Okra Thoran

Now that we have had a snack, it is time to move on to the meal itself. Our next goal is to set out some basic recipes for various dishes that can be combined together into a meal. This dish, Okra Thoran, is from Kerala, and is a recipe from Benny, a man of many talents whose kitchen repertoire includes a number of delicious dishes that can be put together in no time at all. Since, like us, you probably enjoy delicious food but have limited time, you will be pleased to know that we have many more of his recipes up our sleeves!

A thoran is a "dry" dish with quite a bit of coconut. In fact, the original recipe calls for equal parts vegetable to coconut, but I usually use less. A thoran can be made with vegetables other than okra, such as green beans, cabbage, and grated carrots, so if okra is hard to find or prohibitively expensive, feel free to substitue any one of these vegetables.

Okra Thoran

Preparation time:10 minutes
Difficulty: easy

1 ½ cups okra, chopped into ½ cm rings
1 small red onion (or half a medium one), chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2-3 fresh green chilies (or less depending on your tolerance and the size of the chilies) cut in two

½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cumin
1 ½ cups freshly grated coconut

10-15 curry leaves
½ tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil

1. Combine coconut with turmeric, cumin and salt. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil (preferably coconut oil for that true taste of Kerala), when it is hot enough to pop a single mustard seed, add the rest of the mustard seeds and lower the heat. After about 5-10 seconds add the onion, garlic, and chilies. Cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the okra to the pan. Stir, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add the curry leaves and cook, stirring for an additional thirty seconds.
4. Add the coconut mixture. Stir and cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.