Carrot poriyal is a super-healthy & super-yum authentic south Indian delicacy which is full on with awesome flavors and comes around very quickly!
We are super excited with the new launch of our brand-new blog ‘Everyday Indian Recipes’ powered by Flavor Quotient! Today I bring to you a very flavorful as well as nutritious recipe from South of India and nothing could have marked the beginning of our new journey any better! Poriyal, on a high-level, is a stir-fried vegetable dish mixed with grated coconut and spices. Carrot poriyal is the carroty version of poriyal with beautiful red carrots sautéed with grated coconut and flavorful spices.
You really can’t get any better makeover for carrots than this. The carrots are sautéed until tender but still retain a thin string of crunch. That’s the beauty of it and I personally haven’t had any better stand-alone carrot recipe with only this red crunchy veggie being the lead actor. In Bengali cuisine, carrots are merely used in mixed vegetable curries or so. Carrot poriyal is definitely a keeper for me and it’s surely gonna make rounds in our family meals.
What I love most about Indian food is the mix-n-match of various ingredients that we do to create a magic in the final dish. Like in this carrot poriyal, we use two types of dals – moong dal or split green gram and urad dal or split black gram and the addition of these two surprising ingredients adds a different dimension altogether to the final product. Well, it may not be too surprising for us Indians as this is quite a common technique to add some extra crunch to many vegetarian curries or stir-fry dishes and it works wonders.
Finally, the star ingredients of the carrot poriyal need some special mention. The carrot and coconut are best friends here and seems to be just made for each other. The grated coconut clings to the juliennes of carrots and brings out their maximum sweetness. This carrot poriyal is a dry dish and best enjoyed with phulkas, or even rice, accompanied by a bowl of warm dal tadka and that’s a complete comfort meal for us any given day! Try this south Indian delicacy if you haven’t already and let your body thank you for incorporating such a healthy food into your diet.
The carrot poriyal is spiced with what I call the typical South Indian tadka (i.e. spice blend for tempering oil) – curry leaves, mustard seeds and dry red chilies. Along with that you also have the hint of cumin seeds to give it a nutty flavor and the quintessential Indian taste enhancer i.e. asafetida or hing as we call it locally. All this spices beautifully balances the sweetness of carrots and coconut which is why this combination is an undisputed winner.
The only powdered spice used in this carrot poriyal recipe is turmeric powder which I believe is way too predictable as no Indian dish is ever complete without this magical golden touch. So, if you are new to Indian cooking, this recipe is a good starter as you won’t have to remember thousands of different spices to crack it up in your own kitchen. If you are Indian, then I am sure you already have all these ingredients handy in your pantry as it merely requires very basic stuff to get going. That’s the primary essence of this new venture of ours – sharing basic Indian recipes from various states of India which mostly requires regular ingredients which are easily available in our local markets. This is our humble attempt to break the invisible yet existing cultural barrier among us fellow Indians from different corners of the country as we strongly believe that nothing else could bond people better than good food!
- Carrot – 250 gms
- Moong dal – 2 tbsp
- Urad dal – 1 tbsp
- Grated fresh coconut – 6 tbsp
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Green chili – 2
- Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
- Asafetida/hing – a pinch
- Curry leaves – 10 -12
- Dry red chili – 2
- Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
- Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Peel and chop carrots into thin long strips. Soak the moong dal in water for at least 15 minutes.
- Take grated coconut, cumin seeds, green chilies and 2 tablespoons of water in a grinder and grind to a coarse paste. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet or wok. Add hing/asafetida and mustard seeds and let them crackle.
- Add urad dal and saute until golden brown. Next add the dry red chilies and curry leave and saute until they crispy up, about 1 minute.
- Now add the drained moong dal, chopped carrot and turmeric powder. Saute them on medium flame for 5 to 6 minutes.
- Next add about ⅓ cup of water and season with salt to taste. Cover and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until the carrots are soft and cooked but not mushy. You may need to add little more water if the carrot starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Once the carrots are almost cooked, add the coconut paste and mix well. Let all the excess water absorb and coconut turns somewhat crispy. The poriyal should be dry at the end. Check and adjust for seasoning if needed.
- Remove from heat and serve hot with chapati or rice. Enjoy!
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