Green Beans Thoran is Kerala style beans stir fry with coconut, curry leaves, and green chilies. Beans thoran is a very easy stir-fry recipe which can be used with many vegetables other than beans. Its beauty lies in its simple seasoning which allows the taste of vegetable to shine through.
This simple recipe is one of the last meals I had before leaving Bucharest and also one of the first meal I cooked in my new kitchen! 🙂 Last week we packed up our home in Bucharest and embarked on a new journey in a new country! The day before leaving, friends of ours who are from Kerala and live in Bucharest invited us for an Onam feast! She had made beans thoran, aviyal, sambhar, buttermilk, okra, coconut chutney, and mango pickle. I was just delighted by the variety of dishes. It surely was a feast and she said they make all of these during Onam — the annual harvest festival in Kerala.
#movingcountries!
We’ve now moved from Romania to USA. Moving countries comes with its own set of excitement and challenges. You can see that from my absence from blogging for almost 3 weeks. We arrived last week and while we are far from settled, it starts to feel like home once the kitchen has started and so that’s what I did as soon as we moved to our apartment.
Here’s a pic of our empty apartment. Right now all we have in the name of furniture is a mattress but grateful to friends who have lent us enough stuff to start the kitchen!
I saw these beautiful fresh organic green beans in Whole Foods Market and since the taste of thoran was still so fresh and the recipe only needed one pan, which is what I have right now, I made this one. Thoran is a side dish traditionally served with rice and sambhar. We had it with rice and a simple dal fry.
Just eating home cooked food in our apartment (which is absolutely empty right now!) felt like we have arrived. Right now all we have is a mattress and few pots, pans, and dishes in the kitchen. But home is made with people and warm food made with love :-). In both respects, we are totally home.
Green Beans Thoran | Beans stir-fry with coconut
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (I am currently using Grape seed oil for Indian cooking)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 8-10 curry leaves (fresh or dried)
- 1 green chili chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 cups green beans chopped
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup grated coconut
Instructions
- Heat oil in a sauté pan or kadhai on medium heat. Add mustard seeds.
- Once the seeds start to crackle, add curry leaves, green chilies, and onions. Sauté for about 2 minutes till the onions start to soften.
- Add the chopped beans, turmeric powder, and salt. Mix everything together and cook covered for about 5 minutes till the beans are almost done. Check in between and add a little water if you see the beans are sticking to the pan. (You can also cook the beans beforehand by steaming them or cooking in the microwave on high power for 2-3 minutes)
- Add the grated coconut, mix everything well and cook open for another 5 minutes with occasional stirring. Make sure there is no water left from the previous step.
- Remove from heat and serve with roti or rice.
Notes
- Feel free to replace green beans with any vegetable of your choice but make sure it is a sturdy vegetable like carrot or cabbage or beetroot.
- Nutritional Information is approximate information for 1 of 2 servings.
Food Bloggers Community
I knew this month is going to be difficult to blog regularly because of the move but I wanted to push myself to do at least a few recipes in this month. Our closed group of bloggers at A-Z recipe challenge really helps give that push by encouraging. The supporting community is always there whenever you feel a little blogging low! This post is part of our this month’s challenge of making something where the key ingredient starts with letter G!
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Good luck with the move! 🙂 Have fun!
The thoran looks absolutely scrumptious. This is such a simple recipe but so hearty and delicious. It’s an all-time favourite at our place too.
Thanks, Priya 🙂
The move is going good… slow and steady but since the kitchen is now running, it feels home 🙂
Beans poriyal is a common dish in our home. But we make it without onion or shallots. Lovely pic.
Thanks, Niranjana!
When I first had thoran, it was without onions too but I added it on a try and loved it 🙂
I cook this dish often, its one of my favourite dishes <3
How is Houston treating you guys?
Waiting to hear from you soon!
Heyyyy!!!!!
Houston is treating us very warmly so far 🙂 Looking forward to see how the journey emerges here!
except for the shallots and turmeric, the rest are added at home. so glad you could join us inspite of your personal committments !
Thanks, Kalyani! I too am glad that I could make it to the challenge 🙂 Onion was my addition but my friend also used turmeric in her preparation so I thought it was part of the normal recipe!
Aww..Reading your post made me nostalgic. Can relate a lot specially when you are moving to new country. The beans thoran stir fry looks like a fuss free vegetable to cook. Would love it with some Dal rice
Thank you so much, Renu! I am so glad it evoked memories for you 🙂 The thoran is surely a fuss-free vegetable for initiating the kitchen!
I make it almost the same way except adding shallots. and I use less coconut.
I actually love the coconut flavor in it 🙂 but the beauty of Indian cooking is the adaptability to different tastes and how you can easily adjust the quantities of different seasoning!
Ashima, firstly congratulations on the recent move and hope the new Country and home brings you guys all the luck and love! Coming to the recipe, a big fan of Thorans, a Keralite myself, so you can imagine how much I loved seeing the whole Onam spread. Usually this thoran has two variations, one where the shallots are not used and just the coconut is added, whereas the other is what you have cooked here. I am however, a fan of both the versions! Some Rasam or Mor Sadam and this thoran is an absolute delight.
Hey Vidya!
Thank you so much and I am so happy that the Onam spread brought back memories of home 🙂 My friend did make one without the onions but I wanted to try with onions. I like it both ways too 🙂
Congratulations on the move, may it be for the best! Beans thoran is my favorite stir fry any time with rice, we just sprinkle coconut for name sake but this one has a lot, and sounds so good!
Hey, Rafeeda!
yes, this one has a lot. For me, the dominant flavor of a thoran recipe is coconut but the beauty of Indian cuisine is that it can easily be adapted to different tastes and preferences. So a little less coconut will also be fine!
Ashima hope you’ve settled down in the new country. It was so kind of friends to give you some pans to begin cooking in your new apartment. Not having a kitchen that one can cook in is a challenge. I’m missing my kitchen. Green beans thorn looks so delicious. I’ll try it out when I get fresh tender beans.
Yes, Mayuri! It was such a big help that we knew some people from before and they helped make moving so much easier! Especially with the kitchen stuff or else I would have had to buy at least some until our shipment from Romania reaches here, which will take another month!
Fresh beans are what you have to use! I’ve actually never tried frozen green beans… I feel they will become soggy and not so crunchy after they defrost 😮
Loved your write up. Enjoy your move on and all the best. Hope everything is settling down well. This bean thoran looks so tempting. Full of coconut flavour. I would love to have it with dal chawal or roti. Lovely share.
Thanks, Sujata!
I write what is true for me in the moment of writing so it flows naturally 🙂 I am glad you liked it. The beans thoran goes very well with dal-chawal!
I love simple and fresh curries and this green beans thoran is a winner in my opinion! I am glad you were able to participate in this challenge dear Ashima.. I would love to enjoy this with some rice and dal; perfect! Enjoy your new home and country 🙂
Thanks, Vanitha!
I am now in your country and slowly making it my home :-). Beans thoran is great with rice and dal… I also love it as a side to roti or paratha.
All the best Ashima ! Hope you make great memories at the new place.
The Green beans thoran is exactly the way mom prepares it at home. Awesome share and hats off to you between all these activities you tried to participate.Great !
Thanks, Paarul!
I guess it was because of this group that I was able to get back to blogging else it was easy to tell myself that it’s okay to take a step back which I did for about 3 weeks! I am so happy to know that the recipe brought back memories of mom’s food for you!
I make a similar stir fry with beans but add red chili powder instead of green chilies. Your thoran looks so good. Wish you all the best with your move.
Thanks, Poonam!
I, on the other hand, use red chili powder sparingly as opposed to fresh green chilies. In most curries, I add Kashmiri red chili powder mainly for the color they lend to the dish.
Thank you so much for your wishes 🙂
I loved the way you have written the post Ashima. the colour of the thoran is lovely, My throrans have a lot less cocout, but coconut is yummy so yours looks more excting.
Thanks, Seema!
I loved the coconut flavor in this dish and that is the lasting flavor thoran has for me in all my memories! That’s why decided to keep it high on coconut 🙂
Wishing you the very best of luck at your new place. I am sure you will thrive here.
Green beans thoran is that simple dish that can elevate a meal to new heights. Indeed, one of the comfort foods in my home. I can pair it with anything: sambar rice, dahi rice or then just have it as is. I love the generous dose of coconut you have used; that’s what makes a thoran special. 🙂
Thanks, Aruna!
We are slowly settling in well :-). I too love the generous coconut flavor in this recipe! I am so happy you like it too!
Beans thoran looks absolutely delicious dear !! super simple stir fry dish and also most’s fav side dish along with steamed rice particularly 🙂 And also wishing you a great time at your new place
Thanks, Sasmita!
Slowly settling down in the new place. It is a beautiful city and so much to explore 🙂
The thoran looks so flavorful and tasty! I have not tried my hands with this yet but now after reading your post I am tempted to make this. I love coconuts and I am sure I will enjoy the dish as much as you do 🙂 Great share!!
Do give it a try, Geetanjali! If you love coconuts, you will love this simple preparation. And you can make it different vegetables and not just beans 🙂
Thank you so much for your feedback!
Beans thoran looks absolutely delicious dear !! Loved this simple stir fry dish and also most’s fav side dish along with roti 🙂
How is Houston treating you guys? Glad to see your post!
Thanks, Jolly!
Houston is a great place to be in 🙂 So far whatever we have said yes to, has been a beautiful opportunity to meet amazing people!