A thoran is a sort of quick Keralan stir-fry. Here it involves cooking shredded sprouts hard and fast, then tossing them with some sweet onions and the lively flavours of curry leaves, chilli, lemon and coconut. This is Kerala, via wintry England, on a plate.
This dish goes well with other Keralan dishes like beetroot pachadi or tamarind and caramelized red onion rice.
Ingredients
- 600 g Brussels sprouts, washed
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 12 fresh curry leaves
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 red chilli, finely sliced
- 50 g desiccated or fresh grated coconut
- 0.66 teaspoon salt
- ½ lemon juice
How to Make It
- First shred the sprouts. The easiest way to do this is in a food processor fitted with a 2 mm slicing disc. If you don’t have a food processor, slice them as thinly as you can by hand.
- Put the coconut oil into a wide-bottomed pan over a medium to high heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Wait for them to sizzle and pop, then add the red onion.
- Cook until soft and starting to caramelize, then add the garlic, red chilli and coconut. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes until the raw smell of the garlic disappears, then turn the heat up, add the sprouts and mix thoroughly.
- Keep tossing and turning for 4 minutes, then add the salt and lemon juice. Cook for a further 2 minutes, then take off the heat. Taste to check the salt and lemon balance, and adjust if need be.
