An Indian Feast – Part 3 – Green Beans Thoren

I still have a couple more recipes to share with you from our delicious Indian feast I prepared for Elizabeth’s birthday. An Indian Feast – Part 1 – The Shrimp Vindaloo, An Indian Feast – Part 2 – Potatoes and Peppers. This time I am sharing the recipe for green beans thoren.

A thoren or thoran is a vegetable dish prepared with a dried curried spice mixture, coconut, chilies and onions. These vegetables are often eaten with other curried dishes and rice. It is a very popular way of eating vegetables of all kinds in Southern India, though green beans are most commonly used.

Green Beans Thoren

1 lb fresh green beans, ends trimmed, and cut into pieces about 1 inch in size

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1 jalapeno, or serrano or Thai chili – I like to dice mine nice and fine, but you can keep them in larger pieces if you want more “direct heat” with each bite.

1 TBSP garlic

1/2 red pepper, diced

2 bay leaves or 10 curry leaves

2 TBSP oil – either olive, vegetable or coconut oil

1 TBSP rice

1/2 cup water or more as needed

Spice Mixture

1/2 tsp either ground dry mustard or mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt or to taste

Get a skillet nice and hot at high heat and add the oil. Add the green beans, coconut and spices and mix together well. Add the water and reduce the heat to a medium high, and stir-fry until the green beans are bright green and tender for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. You can use frozen green beans as well, but I LOVE fresh vegetables, so I almost always use fresh over frozen.

When the vegetables are ready serve alongside your favorite Indian dishes and enjoy. We all did. 🙂

Have a great day. Stay warm, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.