Beetroot Thoran / Sabzi

Beetroot is a healthy vegetable and if included in our 5 veggies a day, would provide us with a good amount of magnesium, potassium, iron, folates and Vitamins A, B6 and C. Beetroot is believed to improve blood flow and lower blood pressure due to the presence of nitrate in it. It contains flavonoids, soluble fiber and antioxidants which reduces bad cholesterol and prevents formation of plaque. It has a high iron content and thereby helps in treating anemia.

 

Beetroot takes time to cook and hence cooking it separately and then tempering it works best. In case you do not want stained hands, use gloves or a polythene bag to hold the beetroot while peeling or chopping it. This beetroot thoran is from my mother's kitchen.

Ingredients
Beetroot - 250 gms
Shallots - 2
Coconut grated - 2tbsp
Green chillies - 2
Curry leaves - 5 to 6
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric pwd - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Peel and wash the beetroot, then chop it into small pieces. Add a little water, turmeric pwd and salt and cook in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. The beetroot can also be cooked in the kadai, cover it and check in between if more water needs to be added to cook it. Once done, take it off the heat and prepare the tempering. 

Slice the shallots and slit the green chillies and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds when the oil is near smoking. Once the mustard seeds splutter add the sliced shallots, curry leaves and green chillies and sauté till the shallots are done. Add the cooked beetroot and mix well. Sauté for a minute and add the grated coconut and sauté for a couple of minutes. Take off the heat and keep covered till ready to serve. 

In Kerala, beetroot thoran is served as a side dish in a rice and curry meal. 

Cabbage Thoran / Gobi sabji

The other day, my mother-in-law mentioned that she always kept cabbage in the frig because it stored well and was easy to prepare when people came over unannounced. That's true, the chopping does not take much time and the cabbage is a no-fuss vegetable that cooks quickly. In Kerala, the sabji is made in an easier than other ways. Cabbage has to be cut thin and fine and should be cooked only as much that it retains a slight crunch to it. The best thing of all, is that you can put in all the ingredients and leave it to cook without having to stir it. And it takes just about 10 minutes to cook.

 

Ingredients
Cabbage - 2 cups, tightly packed
Green chilli - 2
Curry Leaves - 4 to 5
Turmeric powder - 1tsp
Mustard Seeds
Salt - 1tsp
Oil - 1tsp
Coconut - 1tbsp, grated

Cut the cabbage in thin and fine pieces, wash it and put in a colander to drain. Heat oil in a kadhai and when hot, add the mustard seeds. When it splutters add the green chilli, curry leaves, turmeric powder, chopped cabbage and salt. Mix well and bring it all together in the kadhai and cover with a lid and cook on low heat. After about 10 minutes check to see if cooked and sprinkle the grated coconut and mix well. Wait for a minute and take off the heat. It is ready to be served. 

 

Cabbage thoran can be served with rice and sambhar or any other Kerala kootaan.

Cheera Thoran / Lal Maat bhaji / Red Spinach veggie

Red spinach, also known as lal maat in Marathi, cholai in Hindi and cheera in Malayalam is a very healthy leafy vegetable. In Kerala, a thoran is made using the leaves and the tender stems of the Amaranth or it is added to dal (lentil) and coconut and made into a moloshyam / molagootal called cheera moloshyam. In both ways, the vegetable is very lightly spiced allowing the flavor of the cheera to stand out without being overshadowed. The thicker stems (thandu in Malayalam) of the cheera are saved to be added to avial / aviyal to be chewed on like the muringaka. In fact, an aviyal made of the cheera thand and chakka kuru (jackfruit seeds) with lots of coconut was a delicacy at my grandparents place. Personally, I love the cheera whichever way it is cooked; the taste along with its color has always made my mouth water. When I was small I always wanted a little curd rice / thayirsaadam when there was cheera thoren, just to see the color contrasts in my plate.

 

The leafy vegetables we get in India are not cleaned and usually have the roots intact with the mud and dirt on them. It is hence necessary to rinse them a few times in clean water. Cut off the roots and pluck the leaves and the tender stems out for this preparation. As much as possible rinse each leaf carefully in water, changing the water a few times. You will actually see the grime that collects in the sink when doing this. Keep the amaranth leaves in a colander to drain the water and after 10 minutes chop them up.

Ingredients
Amaranth / Lal Maat / Cheera - 3 cups, chopped
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Curry Leaves - 4-5
Green Chilli
Onion, small - 1/2
Coconut - 3tbsp
Turmeric pwd - 1/2tsp
Oil - 1tsp
Salt as per taste

Heat a kadhai and add the oil when it is hot add the mustard seeds into it. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the curry leaves and then the turmeric powder. Immediately, add the chopped amaranth leaves and salt and mix well. Cover the kadhai with a lid and cook on low heat.

Add the green chilli, onion and coconut to the blender and give a quick whisk only to crush it well. When the cheera is almost done, add this crushed mix and stir it in. After a couple of minutes, turn the heat off and the thoran is ready to serve.

Like all  leafy vegetables, cheera is also full of vitamins and minerals and is purportedly healthier than spinach also. Popeye would have been stronger had he gulped Amaranth instead of spinach. Cooked amaranth leaves are a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, and Folate. Cheera is also a complementing source of other vitamins such as thiamine, niacin, and riboflavin, plus some dietary minerals including calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese.

This Cheera Thoran recipe goes to "Side dish mela", hosted by cooking4allseasons.

State Bhavan Canteen Review - Malayali food experience at Kerala House

We were craving to eat Malayali food for sometime and hence decided to check out the canteen at Kerala House at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. The place primarily caters to the staff and guests staying there and attracts a few office goers from the area around. So go at a decent hour else food may run out because they cook limited quantities and do not expect too many people to come. We reached there at about 2.30pm and the man at the counter asked us to wait for a few minutes. On peeping inside we saw there were tables free and checked again with the man at the counter. He informed us that they had run out of rice and fresh coupons would be issued only once they were sure there was enough food!

The vegetarian thali is the standard available at the Kerala House canteen and then one can buy fish curry or fry or chicken curry or fry separately.

Once seated, a waiter brought a bowl of sambhar, a jug of rasam, a jug of sambhaaram (spiced buttermilk), a jug of water and glasses to the table. Slowly the waiter came with plates served with a cabbage thoren (sabzi), achaar (pickle), onion slices and payar mezhukaperati (long beans sabzi). The rice was then served. We had to ask for the papadam and they gave us broken bits and said they ran out of papadams. They also had fish curry and fry and chicken curry and fry, which one can order with the thali for additional money. We ordered the ailaa / bangda (mackerel) fish fry to go with the thali. They served the Kerala red rice and I bit into 2 stones when eating, guess they did not clean the rice in a hurry to cook it! The waiters don't come around so often with second servings so we had to call them over twice.

The verdict - the food was average - keeping aside the fact that I bit into stones and the fish was not salted and spiced enough. The rasam with garlic and the sambharam spiced with ginger was really good. They seemed to have made the payar mezhukuperati fresh after running out of cabbage thoren.

Don't expect the Andhra Bhavan's efficient standards here. It is a small room in the parking space partitioned off with wood. The waiters don't wear a uniform and there are about 7 to 8 tables in all here. There is a lot of old furniture from the guest rooms and a couple of old discarded cars (an Ambassador and a Standard NE) lying about in the parking space and this is right at the entrance!

Overall the Kerala House food was just ok, to be visited only if in the area.

 

P.S. Thoren in Malayalam is any vegetable cooked with a tadka of mustard seeds, green chilly and curry leaves with grated coconut added in the end. Mezhukuperati is when there is no grated coconut instead coconut oil is sprinkled in the end to the vegetable.