Thoran

Living in  a multicultural university gave me an opportunity to discover new cuisines and ingredients that I probably would never even consider tasting. And the exploration resulted in heady new flavors. One of the discoveries was my introduction to the Mallus. There was once a quote shared on facebook that "You do not happen to Mallus, they happen to you". Resham George happened to me and let me tell you it was one of the highlights of my postgraduate days. She introduced me to her mother Lathika George and her debut cookbook - The Suriani Kitchen and that day was good for the future of my tastebuds. The book brings us recipes from the Syrian community of Kerala - some indigenous and some that are staples in the Kerala kitchen. The book cover is unassuming echoing memories of the old memories of grandmothers on the grindstones, smoky coal ovens, blackened iron skillets and comforting aromas of the Indian hearth. The pages that followed did not disappoint - playful stringhoppers or idiappams, indulgent chemeen biryani, the staple Kerala chicken stew, the famous appam and stew, the delightful avial...the list just goes on and on. And the best part of the book - you follow the instructions and the food that comes out is just right.

I first flipped through the pages of the book at Resham's home in Kodaikanal. And once I touched down on flat land buying the book was the first on my land. Since then, it has become my constant companion in creating delicious, easy recipes from the land of Kerala. The recipe in this post is Cabbage thoran  which is adapted from her spinach thoran recipe from the book. The thoran is a spice paste made with grated coconut and aromatics. The cabbage is tossed with this paste and fried with some mustard seeds and curry leaves. I have added some turmeric for color and a green chilly - well, because I love the spicy kick.

Ingredients:
For the thoran
1 medium red onion
1 inch ginger
4 garlic cloves
1 cup grated coconut
1tsp cumin seeds
Blend all the ingredients together for a coarse paste.
To fry
1 medium cabbage very finely chopped
1tsp mustard seeds
7-9 curry leaves
2 dried red chillies
1 slitted green chilly
1tsp turmeric
salt to taste
oil for cooking
water as required

Method:
Toss the cabbage with the thoran paste
Heat oil. Splutter the mustard seeds. Break the chillies and add to the pan.
Add the curry leaves. Be careful of the splatter.
Fold in the marinated cabbage through the spluttering spices. Cook for five minutes.
Add the slitted green chilly and turmeric. Sprinkle 2tbsp of water and cook for fifteen more minutes.
Serve with some herbed rice and a spicy dal for a wholesome and delicious dinner.