Kerala
Cheera Thoran
- Duration: 20 minutes
- Serves: 2 to 4 people
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Spice Level: Medium
Authenticity Slice
It is best to use only the freshest, preferably baby spinach, leaves for this dish. Also remember to not add in the stems, even if they are fresh and soft.
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Trivia Tadka
Kerala style stir-fry is a great and simple way of cooking fresh vegetables. This dish can be served as a side to main course items and goes well even with rice, appams or dosas. Nadan Cheera Thoran or spinach stir-fry with coconut is a regular Malayali side-dish to rice. In Kerala, cheera (a variety of spinach) is grown in the backyards of many traditional homes, with the most popular varieties being the red and green cheera.
Ingredients
- Spinach (cheera) (1 bunch)
- Shallots, chopped (3)
- Green chillies (hari mirch) (2)
- Garlic (lahsun) (2 cloves)
- MTR Haldi Turmeric Powder (¼ tsp)
- Coconut, scraped (½ cup)
- Yellow mustard seeds (sarson) (½ tsp)
- Rice (½ tsp)
- Coconut oil (1 tbsp)
- Salt (to taste)
Method
- Thoroughly wash the spinach leaves and chop them up finely. Keep aside.
- In a mixer-grinder, work up the scraped coconut and some of the shallots along with the MTR Haldi/Turmeric Powder, green chillies and garlic cloves. Grind them into a coarse mixture without adding any water. Keep aside.
- Heat the coconut oil in a kadhai and toss the sarson into it. Once it has started to crackle, add in the rice and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Then, add in the remaining chopped shallots.
- Once the shallots have turned light brown, add in the chopped spinach. Keep cooking on a high flame for 2 minutes.
- The spinach will start to release water and wilt quickly if it is fresh. Once all the water has evaporated, add in the salt and stir.
- Keep simmering for 5 minutes and then add in the coconut mixture. Cover and cook for a minute more.
- Stir for another minute and serve hot.
