Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Cabbage & Carrot Thoran-style Indian Salad Recipe
A stunning flavour mixture will knock your socks off! This salad is made with finely shredded cabbage and carrot, tossed with a spiced Indian coconut “sambal” of kinds (in India they could name it a “dry chutney”). Primarily based on the normal South Indian Thoran dry curries, that is ridiculously scrumptious!
Thoran is a staple vegetable-based “dry curry” discovered within the southern India. It include chopped greens cooked with grated coconut, curry leaves and is flippantly flavoured with turmeric and possibly a few different spices.
It may be made with many various greens similar to cabbage, carrot, okra, onion, natives greens, or a combination.
For the previous yr, I’ve been obsessively making the inexperienced bean model – which I will publish considered one of nowadays, as a result of it’s so damned good!
However at the moment, I’m sharing a salad model of Thoran, made utilizing a spiced coconut flavour base tossed by way of a cabbage and carrot salad.
No, it’s not strictly genuine, however the flavours are true. I’m utilizing uncooked greens right here to introduce freshness to the dish. And it’s completely scrumptious – I might not share such an obscure recipe if I felt it wasn’t distinctive!!
Right here’s what you want. Observe: the elements pictured beneath are for a double batch of the recipe written beneath, and all of the images pictured in submit are a double batch. I used to be feeding a crowd! 🙂
The three elements that give this a really genuine Indian flavour are the coconut, black mustard seeds and curry leaves. All three are key elements in conventional Thoran, on which this salad recipe relies.
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Black mustard seeds – They appear to be poppyseeds however are aromatic and have a slight horseradish-like chunk to them. They’re not spicy, extra a contemporary zing.
~ $1.50 in small packs at Indian grocery shops – my native is Indian Emporium in Dee Why on the Northern Seashores, Sydney. Additionally bought within the Indian meals part at some Woolworths (Australia) $1.70, and on-line – it’s a small, mild pack so postage must be minimal! Additionally utilized in Samosas, Eggplant Curry, Dal and on this Vegetable Samosa Pie which is to-die for!
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Curry leaves – I simply love the odor of contemporary curry leaves. They odor like curry powder, however in contemporary curry leaf kind! (Although simply so , curry powder isn’t derived from curry leaves. ) Curry leaves are a staple herb in South Indian / Sri Lankan cooking, and impart an unimaginable and distinctive fragrance into something it’s utilized in.
They’re pretty accessible these days for Sydney-siders. They’re bought at Harris Farms, most Coles and most Woolworths. They hold for a very long time within the fridge – as in a number of weeks – or could be frozen.
This too is utilized in Eggplant Curry, Dal and the Vegetable Samosa Pie. Substitute: dried curry leaves (not fairly the identical, however it’s the perfect sub) or Garam Masala powder;
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Coconut – Whereas contemporary is conventional and finest, it’s exhausting to supply. I’ve used desiccated coconut right here as an alternative. I believe it really works particularly effectively as a result of it disperses totally all through the salad. Nevertheless, bigger grated strands would additionally work effectively. Be sure you use unsweetened;
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Cumin and turmeric – Quite common spices utilized in Indian cooking;
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Recent inexperienced chilli – Right here I’m utilizing a cayenne pepper. Being a big chilli, it’s not that spicy. This dish isn’t spicy basically – the chilli simply offers it a pleasant background heat;
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Eschalot (USA: shallot) – These brown child onion-type alliums that are sweeter and extra delicate than common onions. Can’t discover them? Simply use extra onion as an alternative;
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Cabbage and carrot – You’d by no means anticipate them to work so effectively with the coconut and Indian spices, however they do! All these flavours actually rework the atypical into extraordinary!
This can be a little bit of an uncommon salad in that it doesn’t contain a liquid dressing that’s tossed by way of contemporary greens.
Moderately, we’re making a cooked, spiced coconut “sambal” of kinds, which is then tossed by way of finely shredded cabbage and carrot. The warmth from the combination wilts the cabbage and carrot a bit, in addition to in fact including all these pleasant (and genuine!) Indian flavours!
I discover that this salad is flavourful and attention-grabbing sufficient to function a wonderful and satisfying vegetarian – certainly, vegan – meal. However really, it was created to function a facet salad for a menu for Indian Week!
What’s Indian Week, you ask? It’s per week the place I’m sharing three model new, iconic Indian recipes to make your very personal Indian feast:
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Palak Paneer – The well-known Indian Spinach Curry with do-it-yourself Paneer (cheese!)
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Naan – This recipe, FIVE YEARS within the making, is lastly right here!
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Samosas – Oh sure we did … and it’s AMAZING!!!
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Cabbage & Carrot Thoran-style Indian Salad – This recipe.
Attempt serving this salad alongside protein-heavy Indian mains or curries, similar to on of those:
Get pleasure from!
