Carrot Poriyal (Grated Carrot Stir Fry)

- Submitted by Dahlia

(Grated Carrot Thoran, Gajar Ki Sabzi, Carrot Vepudu)

Poriyal is a dry stir fry made in South India with grated coconut. It is served as a sidedish with rice. Most South Indian homes have some kind of poriyal made every day. In Kerala similar preparation is called 'thoran'. In our house also, I make poriyal with a vegetable everyday. It retains the natural flavor of the vegetable as not many spices are added. A simple seasoning of mustard, cumin seeds, curry leaves is given. 

Carrot Poriyal is an excellent choice for 2 reasons. First, the orange color brightens up the whole platter. This is usually made when making a feast for guest or during sadhya to add a color to the whole meal. Second, carrot is easily available throughout the year in all parts of India and abroad. The cleaning, grating and cooking takes very little time. 

For South Indians, the sweetness in the carrots sometime bothers them. Some do not prefer to combine it with other spicy curries. Let me tell you one thing. The addition of coconut really masks the sweetness. If it still bothers you, just add 1 tsp of red chili powder while cooking the carrot. The sweetness will be completely gone.

Recipe for Carrot Poriyal

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• Carrot - 3-4
• Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
• Green Chillies - 3-5
• Other vegetable like broccoli or green peas - 2 tbsp (finely chopped - optional)
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Curry leaves - 1 string
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Dry red Chillies - 2
• Urad dhal - 1 tsp
• Salt - as needed

Method

1. Peel the skin of the carrots and grate it using a hand grater. You could also chop it using a chopper, shred it using a food processor or chop it into small dices with hand.
2. Heat oil in a kadai, splutter the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, dry red chillies and curry leaves.
3. Add chopped onion, green chillies and fry for a minute. Sometimes I also like to add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves.
4. Add the grated carrot and required salt. You could add about 2-3 tbsp of some other vegetable finely choppd along with carrot like broccoli, beans, brussels sprouts, parsnip, turnip, green peas etc. This adds a touch of green color which makes the dish attractive.
5. Cover and let it cook till the carrot is soft but not mushy. Sprinkle few drops of water if needed.
6. Add coconut gratings and mix again. Once all the moisture dries up, remove from stove.

Microwave Method

1. Add the tadka, carrot, onions, green chillies, grated coconut and required salt in a microwave safe bowl and micro cook for 5 minutes in full power.
2. Toss everything once in between.

Variations

• For all those who do not prefer to make poriyal with just carrots, you can add other vegetables along with carrot like broccoli, cabbage etc. You can also add some cooked beans like channa dal, chickpeas, green peas or moong dal to add a good teture and taste to the dish.

Serving Carrot Poriyal

• Any poriyal is typically served with rice and some curry. It can also be served with chapatti and It can also be eaten as a salad.

More Carrot Recipes

Carrot Rasam	Carrot Curry	Quick Carrot Halwa	Carrot Uthappam
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