Cabbage Carrot Thoran Style Indian Salad

Thoran-style Indian salad?

Thoran is a staple vegetable-based “dry curry” found in the southern India. It consist of chopped vegetables cooked with grated coconut, curry leaves and is lightly flavoured with turmeric and maybe a couple of other spices. It can be made with many different vegetables such as cabbage, carrot, okra, onion, natives vegetables, or a mix. For the past year, I’ve been obsessively making the green bean version – which I will publish one of these days, because it’s so damned good! But today, I’m sharing a salad version of Thoran, made using a spiced coconut flavour base tossed through a cabbage and carrot salad. No, it’s not strictly authentic, but the flavours are true. I am using raw vegetables here to introduce freshness to the dish. And it’s absolutely delicious – I would not share such an obscure recipe if I felt it wasn’t exceptional!!

What you need for this Thoran-style Indian Salad

Here’s what you need. Note: the ingredients pictured below are for a double batch of the recipe written below, and all the photos pictured in post are a double batch. I was feeding a crowd! 🙂 The three ingredients that give this a truly authentic Indian flavour are the coconut, black mustard seeds and curry leaves. All three are key ingredients in traditional Thoran, on which this salad recipe is based.

Black mustard seeds – They look like poppyseeds but are fragrant and have a slight horseradish-like bite to them. They’re not spicy, more a fresh zing. ~ $1.50 in small packs at Indian grocery stores – my local is Indian Emporium in Dee Why on the Northern Beaches, Sydney. Also sold in the Indian food section at some Woolworths (Australia) $1.70, and online – it’s a small, light pack so postage should be minimal! Also used in Samosas, Eggplant Curry, Dal and in this Vegetable Samosa Pie which is to-die for! Curry leaves – I just love the smell of fresh curry leaves. They smell like curry powder, but in fresh curry leaf form! (Though just so you know, curry powder isn’t derived from curry leaves. ) Curry leaves are a staple herb in South Indian / Sri Lankan cooking, and impart an incredible and unique perfume into anything it’s used in.They’re fairly accessible nowadays for Sydney-siders. They are sold at Harris Farms, most Coles and most Woolworths. They keep for a long time in the fridge – as in several weeks – or can be frozen. This too is used in Eggplant Curry, Dal and the Vegetable Samosa Pie. Substitute: dried curry leaves (not quite the same, but it’s the best sub) or Garam Masala powder;Coconut – While fresh is traditional and best, it’s hard to source. I’ve used desiccated coconut here instead. I think it works especially well because it disperses thoroughly throughout the salad. However, larger grated strands would also work well. Be sure to use unsweetened;Cumin and turmeric – Very common spices used in Indian cooking;Fresh green chilli – Here I’m using a cayenne pepper. Being a large chilli, it’s not that spicy. This dish isn’t spicy in general – the chilli just gives it a nice background warmth;Eschalot (USA: shallot) – Those brown baby onion-type alliums which are sweeter and more delicate than regular onions. Can’t find them? Just use more onion instead;Cabbage and carrot – You’d never expect them to work so well with the coconut and Indian spices, but they do! All those flavours really transform the ordinary into extraordinary!

How to make it

This is a bit of an unusual salad in that it doesn’t involve a liquid dressing that is tossed through fresh greens. ~ $1.50 in small packs at Indian grocery stores – my local is Indian Emporium in Dee Why on the Northern Beaches, Sydney. Also sold in the Indian food section at some Woolworths (Australia) $1.70, and online – it’s a small, light pack so postage should be minimal! Also used in Samosas, Eggplant Curry, Dal and in this Vegetable Samosa Pie which is to-die for! They’re fairly accessible nowadays for Sydney-siders. They are sold at Harris Farms, most Coles and most Woolworths. They keep for a long time in the fridge – as in several weeks – or can be frozen. This too is used in Eggplant Curry, Dal and the Vegetable Samosa Pie. Substitute: dried curry leaves (not quite the same, but it’s the best sub) or Garam Masala powder; Rather, we are making a cooked, spiced coconut “sambal” of sorts, which is then tossed through finely shredded cabbage and carrot. The heat from the mixture wilts the cabbage and carrot a bit, as well as of course adding all those delightful (and authentic!) Indian flavours!

What to serve Cabbage & Carrot Thoran-style Indian Salad with

I find that this salad is flavourful and interesting enough to serve as an excellent and satisfying vegetarian – indeed, vegan – meal. But actually, it was created to serve as a side salad for a menu for Indian Week! What’s Indian Week, you ask? It’s a week where I am sharing three brand new, iconic Indian recipes to make your very own Indian feast: Try serving this salad alongside protein-heavy Indian mains or curries, such as on of these: Enjoy! – Nagi x