Beetroot is a house favorite! Everybody in my home including my little one loves this vibrant vegetable. In spite of it being healthy, I know that there are many beetroot haters out there. The earthy smell of the vegetable is a put off for many and so are the complaints that it tastes like mud. But from my experience, I’ve learned that properly cooking beetroot with the right ingredients help to eliminate the smell completely, thereby making it tasty and a healthy option to add to your daily menu.

Beetroot has so many health benefits; is high in fiber, packed with vitamins and minerals, and rich in folate and manganese thereby helping to strengthen the bones. It also helps to improve the digestive health, lowering the blood pressure, and has anti-cancer properties.

There are so many different ways you can include beetroot in your diet. One of our favorite recipes is the Kerala Style Beetroot Pachadi which is a beetroot and yogurt combination.  A Mediterranean style Beetroot hummus is another colorful option you can add to your menu or even this Beetroot Power Smoothie with apple and pomegranate.

Now let’s talk about today’s recipe which is a simple stir-fried aka thoran version of beetroot, which makes a great pair with steamed rice. The recipe is easy, uses regular thoran ingredients like coconut, jeera/cumin seeds and green chilies, and in-addition too I have added carrot which complements perfectly with beetroot. You can include or skip carrot suiting your palate, either way it tastes delicious!!!

Interested in more thoran / Kerala stir fry dishes? Check these out:

1. Carrot Cabbage Thoran
2. Broccoli Vanpayar Thoran
3. Tender Jackfruit / Idichakka Thoran
4. Yam Stir fry / Chena Thoran 

Interested in other Beetroot recipes? Check these out:

1. Beetroot Power Smoothie
2. Beetroot Hummus
3. Kerala Style Beetroot Pachadi / Beetroot with Yogurt

Enjoy, Happy Cooking…!

Follow me on Instagram, try out the recipes and tag #pepperdelightblog to all your pictures of Pepper Delight recipes you prepare. Rate us if you love it!

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Beetroot Carrot Thoran / Stir fry

BeetrootCarrot Thoran / Stir fry - A colorful and healthy side dish made with beetroot,carrot and coconut! A perfect accompaniment with rice.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian, Kerala

Keyword beetroot thoran, cabbage thoran, kerala

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Akhila

Ingredients

• 1 large beetroot (finely cubed / grated)
• 2 medium sized carrots (finely chopped / grated)
• ½ cup grated coconut
• 2 garlic cloves
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 2 green chilies (slit)
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 dry red chilies
• Salt (as required)
• Oil (as required, pref. coconut oil)

Instructions

• Heat a little oil in a pan on a medium flame, splutter mustard seeds and add curry leaves and dry red chilies.
• Add beetroot, carrot and salt, mix well and close the lid. Reduce the flame and cook it for 5-7 mins.
• Grind coconut, garlic, cumin seeds, green chilies, and turmeric powder to a smooth paste. Keep aside.
• Open the lid and stir everything together. Add the grinded coconut mix and stir well, allow it to cook for a few more minutes until it becomes soft and well cooked, stirring occasionally. Check for the seasoning.
• Switch off the flame and serve with steamed rice.

Notes

• You can skip carrot and use beetroot alone to make this recipe, which also tastes equally delicious.
• Using coconut oil is recommended for all authentic Kerala recipes.
• Adjust the quantity of green chilies used, suiting your spice levels.

The post Beetroot Carrot Thoran / Stir fry appeared first on Pepper Delight.

Another favorite from my mom’s collection, which I got to savor a lot recently during her stay with us. Yam / Elephant foot yam / Suran is a tuber plant with lots of health benefits and is pretty common in Kerala, in fact most of the households cultivate it in their backyard garden. The root as well as the stem of the plant is used for cooking, mostly to make stir fry. Yam root is also a main ingredient in Aviyal & Kootu Curry, the two popular Sadya side dishes. In today’s recipe, I have made a simple thoran / stir fry using the root of yam plant.

Thoran is a staple in every kitchen in Kerala because it makes the easiest side dish with steamed rice. You can make a thoran with pretty much any vegetable and also with fish or chicken. The main ingredients in a thoran are vegetables of course along with a grated coconut mix; includes coconut, jeera / cumin, turmeric powder, garlic, and a hot ingredient (green chilies or red chili powder).

The tastemaker of a yam thoran is the final addition of roasted fennel seeds powder. Since yam is considered as a hard vegetable, it needs something which gives the extra zing to lift the taste, and that’s where fennel comes in. This vegetarian side dish makes a quick and easy meal for your busy days and a perfect combination with steamed rice and tempered buttermilk (moru curry).

Interested in more thoran / Kerala stir fry dishes? Check these out:

• Idichakka Thoran / Tender Jackfruit Stir fry
• Carrot Cabbage Thoran / Stir Fry
• Broccoli Vanpayar Thoran / Red Cowpeas Stir Fry

Enjoy, Happy Cooking…!

Follow me on Instagram, try out the recipes and tag #pepperdelightblog to all your pictures of Pepper Delight recipes you prepare. Rate us if you love it!

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Chena Thoran / Yam Stir fry

Chena Thoran … A Simple & Mildly Spiced Yam Stir Fry with Coconut and Spices, served as a side with Steamed Rice!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian, Kerala

Keyword chena thoran, kerala, thoran

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 3

Author Akhila

Ingredients

• 340 gm chena / elephant yam / suran
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp fennel seeds / പെരുംജീരകം (roasted & powdered)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 dry red chilies
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• Water (as required)
• Salt (as required)
• Oil (as required)

Instructions

• Scrub, clean, and peel off the skin of yam. Cut the yam into small cubes.
• In a saucepan, cook the yam by boiling in enough water and salt until it is soft. Do not overcook, it should hold its shape.
• Grind coconut, garlic, cumin seeds, chili powder and turmeric powder to a smooth paste. Keep aside.
• In a kadai / pan, splutter mustard seeds and add curry leaves and dry red chilies.
• Add the cooked yam, along with grinded coconut paste, mix well and close the lid to cook for 2 minutes in low flame.
• Add fennel powder, toss well and check for the seasoning. Cook for another 2 minutes in low flame and switch it off.
• Serve with steamed rice and tempered buttermilk on side. Enjoy!

Notes

• Using coconut oil is recommended for all authentic Kerala recipes.
• Adjust the quantity of chili powder used, suiting your spice levels.
• You can also use frozen yam (daily delight brand) for making this recipe.

The post Chena Thoran / Yam Stir fry appeared first on Pepper Delight.

It’s here! The festival month of Kerala, and Onam is just around the corner! Did you guys start planning already? How are your Onam preparations coming along?

One of my goals this year was to have plenty of Sadya dishes on Pepper Delight and post a round up for you to try them all at once, right in time for your festival preparations. So, stay tuned as I have a killer Sadya dish coming up in the next few days followed by my Onam recipe round up in a week. And I am sure you’re going to definitely love it!

Coming back to the recipe of the day; Cabbage Carrot Thoran! This stir fry dish is pretty popular in Kerala, which you can cook in 15 minutes. Thoran aka Upperi is the generic Malayalam word for any stir fry dish made with grated coconut. The recipe is super simple and flavorful from the combination of ginger, garlic, green chilies, and cumin. To give the dish its own twist, I’ve modified the original recipe by adding grated carrot along with the cabbage (Thanks to my dear friend Ammu for the tip), making it visually appealing and enhancing the flavours. Unlike other thoran recipes, this one doesn’t require any grinding of the coconut. All you need is a good hand mix of the ingredients and then stir fry for 10-15 minutes, your Thoran is ready!

Pro tip: Use of cast iron pan is ideal for this cabbage carrot thoran recipe as it brings more flavor. Also do not add water while cooking cabbage, as it makes the stir fry soggy.

Interested in more thoran/Kerala stir fry recipes? Check out my Tender Jackfruit/Idichakka Thoran recipe here.

Enjoy, Happy Cooking…!

Follow me on Instagram, try out the recipes and tag #pepperdelightblog to all your pictures of Pepper Delight recipes you prepare. Rate us if you love it!

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Cabbage Carrot Thoran / Stir Fry

Healthy n Hearty Kerala Style Cabbage Carrot Thoran … A Stir Fry Flavored with Ginger, Garlic, Chilies and Cumin, makes a Great Side Dish with Steamed Rice…!!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Keyword cabbage thoran, kerala, kerala sadya, sadya, thoran

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Akhila

Ingredients

• ½ of one large cabbage (grated)
• 1 large carrot (grated / finely chopped)
• 5-6 pearl onions (sliced)
• ½ cup grated coconut
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 2 green chilies (chopped)
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• ½ inch sized ginger (finely chopped)
• 2 tsp urad dal (skinned black gram) or rice
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 dry red chilies
• Salt (as required)
• Oil (as required)

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl; using your hands or with a spoon, mix cabbage, carrot, pearl onions, green chilies, grated coconut, turmeric powder, cumin powder, and a pinch of salt. Keep aside.
• Heat some oil in a pan, add urad dal and allow it to turn slightly golden. Splutter mustard seeds and add curry leaves and dry red chilies.
• Add ginger and garlic, saute until they are fragrant.
• Reduce the flame to low, add the cabbage mix and close the lid to cook for 2-3 minutes. Open the lid and mix everything together and allow it to cook for few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Check for the seasoning. Serve with steamed rice.

Notes

• You can skip carrot and use cabbage alone to make this recipe, which also tastes equally delicious.
• Use of cast iron pan is ideal for this recipe as it brings more flavor.
• Do not add water while cooking cabbage, as it makes the stir fry soggy.
• Using coconut oil is recommended for all authentic Kerala recipes.
• Adjust the quantity of green chilies used, suiting your spice levels.

The post Cabbage Carrot Thoran / Stir Fry appeared first on Pepper Delight.

So, officially its “Chakka” season a.k.a. Jackfruit season in my hometown, one of the favorite phases in every Malayalee’s life. It indeed is… the whole process right from plucking the fruit to cooking it into a delicious dish, is a Celebration! Jackfruit reminds me of the extended family get-togethers during my childhood days. As kids, we used to gather around the trees to watch the tree climbers climb them, tie these heavy fruits with rope and slowly lower them after cutting their stem. From there on the jackfruit is handed over to the ladies in the kitchen, which was a different world altogether. They gathered and sat on the floor leisurely cutting and cleaning the fruits, separating the flowers from the seeds to be used in various dishes, while the elderly women moved onto preparing the dishes. And the whole time the air was filled with chit-chats, gossip talks (my favorite part) and the mouth-watering aroma of the dishes being prepared.

No wonder Jackfruit is also known as the official fruit of the Kerala state!

Jackfruit being the largest tree-borne fruit is a quite complex one, the ability to use pretty much every portion of it and make a wide variety of dishes is quite astounding. Except for its outer skin of green thorns which we discard (not wasted though as it is an excellent feed for cows & they love it), the rest of the fruit is used completely in dishes, for e.g. crispy chips (ചക്ക ഉപ്പേരി), jam (ചക്ക വരട്ടിയത്), steamed dumplings (കുമ്പിളപ്പം) , dessert (ചക്ക പായസം), curries (ചക്ക അവിയൽ), stir fry (ഇടിച്ചക്ക തോരൻ), brazil nuts stir fry (ചക്കക്കുരു മെഴുക്കുപുരട്ടി )… and the list goes on!

This tender jackfruit stir fry recipe is one of my favorites here in the US, and brings back sweet old home memories each time I cook. Since the fresh ones are very difficult to find, I use frozen or canned versions bought from Indian/Asian grocery stores. And you don’t need to doubt their quality, they taste equally good as their fresh counterparts.

The flavors of tender jackfruit are quite different than their ripe ones and make a delicious stir fry with spices, chilies and coconut. Bird’s eye chilies (കാന്താരി മുളക്) are preferred to give this dish the right amount of heat but you can also substitute with green chilies to suit your spice levels.

Happy Cooking…!

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Idichakka Thoran/Tender Jackfruit Stir fry

Tender Jackfruit a.k.a. Idichakka, Cooked and Stir Fried with Coconut, Chilies and Spices… Pairs Perfectly with Steamed Rice. 

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Keyword idichakka thoran, jackfruit, tender jackfruit stir fry

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Akhila

Ingredients

To make the coconut mix

• ½ cup grated coconut
• 2 garlic pods
• 2-3 bird’s eye chilies / green chilies
• 3-4 fresh curry leaves
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds

To make the thoran

• 1 small fresh Idichakka / tender jackfruit OR 1 frozen packet (semi-cooked)
• Water (as required)
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 3-4 pearl onions
• 1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
• 1 tsp urad dal (split black gram lentils) / rice
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 dry red chilies
• Salt (as required)
• Oil (as required)

Instructions

• Using fresh tender jackfruit: Cut the whole tender jackfruit into large chunks using a well-oiled knife. Peel of the green thorny skin from the outer chunks until no-green is visible, discard the peeled off skin. Cut the chunks into smaller pieces.
• To cook the jackfruit, you can can either pressure cook or pan cook along with water (enough to cover the jackfruit), turmeric powder and salt. If pressure cooking, cook for one whistle and allow it cool down until the pressure is released, strain and keep aside.

OR

• Using frozen semi-cooked tender jackfruit: Transfer the jackfruit from the packet to a skillet along with water (just enough to cover the jackfruit), and boil with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder for 10-15 minutes on a medium flame. Strain it and keep aside.
• Shred: Shred the cooked jackfruit by either mashing it with a masher or using a blender, but make sure not to grind it into a paste.
• Grind coconut mix: Grind all the coconut mix ingredients listed above to make a coarse mix.
• Mix’em up: Using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix well the grinded coconut mix and the shredded jackfruit.
• Cook’em up: In a pan, heat a little oil and add urad dal. When the dal turns light brown, add mustard seeds, dry red chilies and curry leaves.
• As the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the jackfruit-coconut mix, sauté and cook on a low flame for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check for the seasonings. Switch off the flame and serve with hot steamed rice.

Notes

1. You can use any brand of frozen tender jackfruit, I generally use Daily Delight’s Tender Jackfruit and at times also buy the canned ones - Green Young Jackfruit from the brand Chaokoh. 

2. Use of coconut oil is ideal for all Kerala recipes.

3. If available, you can use birds eye chilies (കാന്താരി മുളക്) instead of green chilies for making this recipe.

The post Idichakka Thoran / Tender Jackfruit Stir fry appeared first on Pepper Delight.

So here is my second dish from my recent California trip; a new combination of broccoli and red cowpeas with my coconut mix, and trust me… it tastes delicious and hearty.

We had a weeklong trip to California to meet our family, and it was fun roaming around, visiting places, trying out new food/ cuisines/ restaurants, and cooking with my sister. Cooking was special as it was a break from my usual lonely kitchen time to sharing the kitchen with someone who also loves to cook and explore. My sister being a vegetarian also gave me an opportunity to try some new veggie dishes. Thanks to her for this recipe.

A healthy diet includes food loaded with vitamins, proteins and other minerals. Cowpeas are an excellent source of protein and have different varieties like the black, brown, and white creamy peas.  Red cowpeas also known as Lobhia or Vanpayar, is one of my favorite legumes and goes well with a combination of vegetables.

I love broccoli but most of the time end up cooking its easiest recipe; steamed broccoli. Never thought broccoli would taste so delicious with a coconut mix, this dish is perfect with steamed rice.

Give this recipe a try and let me know how it turns out. Enjoy…!!!

Interested in more thoran/Kerala stir fry recipes? Check these out;

• Tender Jackfruit/Idichakka Thoran
• Cabbage Carrot Thoran / Stir Fry

Enjoy, Happy Cooking…!

Follow me on Instagram, try out the recipes and tag #pepperdelightblog to all your pictures of Pepper Delight recipes you prepare. Rate us if you love it!

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Broccoli Thoran/ Broccoli with Red Cowpeas

Healthy Kerala Style Broccoli Thoran / Stir fry made with red cowpeas, coconut and chilies. The perfect side dish with steamed rice.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian, Kerala

Keyword broccoli, cabbage thoran, kerala

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Akhila

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized broccoli (grated)
• 1 cup red cowpeas/vanpayar (soaked overnight)
• ¾ cup grated coconut
• 2 garlic clove
• ¼ teaspoon jeera
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 green chilies
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 2 dry red chilies
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• salt (as required)
• oil (as required)

Instructions

• Clean and grate broccoli florets after discarding stems and set aside.
• Pressure cook red cowpeas with a little salt and 2 cups of water on a medium flame for up to 2-3 whistles. Take the cooker off the flame, and allow it to rest till the pressure goes off. Drain the cowpeas.
• In a pan, add some oil and splutter mustard seeds, then add dry red chilies and curry leaves.
• Add grated broccoli and a little salt, saute for 5 minutes on a low flame till its rawness subsides. Try not to close the lid to retain the green color.
• In the meantime grind grated coconut, jeera, turmeric powder, garlic and green chilies to a fine paste.
• Add the grinded paste to the pan, saute to mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the cooked cowpeas, miix everything together and cook for another 2 minutes. Check for the seasoning. Switch off the flame and serve with steamed rice.

The post Broccoli Thoran / Broccoli with Red Cowpeas appeared first on Pepper Delight.