Brussels sprouts thoran (curry dish)

This recipe is one of many excellent vegetable-based dishes from Meera Sodha's Fresh India which I can heartily recommend for an innovative collection of Indian recipes.

It will serve 2 if eaten as a main course with rice, but 4 if served with another curry. We ate it with beetroot pachadi and tamarind and caramelised red onion rice, both from the same book.

You'll need a blender with a grating attachment to make short work of this.

vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil (preferably coconut)

1 tsp mustard seeds

12 curry leaves

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 red chilli, finely sliced (or 1/2 of one of the 2017 CHW chillis!)

50g coconut, grated (could be fresh, creamed, or desiccated)

600g Brussels sprouts, washed and shredded using the grater attachment on a blender

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in a large pan or wok. Once hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves and cook for a minute or two until they start to pop.
  2. Add the red onion. Cook until soft and starting to caramelise, about 10-15 mins.
  3. Add the garlic, chilli and coconut and stir fry for a couple more minutes.
  4. Turn the heat up. Add the sprouts, mix thoroughly, and stir fry for a few more minutes.
  5. Add the salt and lemon juice, stir, and then adjust the seasoning to taste. The lemon juice counters any bitterness from the greens, so add more if you've used quite large sprouts.
  6. Serve immediately.

Any leftovers will re-heat well in a wok or hot pan with a small amount of oil.

This recipe tastes even better made with vegetables from Community Harvest Whetstone :)

Brussels sprouts thoran, beetroot pachadi and tamarind and caramelised red onion rice in bowl

The thoran is on the right.