very exotic and even scary. That’s how I felt about thoren—an
unexpected combination of green beans, carrots, garlic, cumin
seeds, and shredded coconut—until I made it and served it on a
plate next to Gomez’s beef and yogurt rice. In that context,
suddenly its role on the plate became very clear; thoren is the
“peas and carrots” portion of an Indian square meal! Except this
recipe will flip any memory you have of waterlogged frozen peas
and carrots on its head. Here everything is bright, flavorful,
punchy, and crunchy too—peas and carrots with pizzazz.
3 big cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ cup shredded coconut (from the refrigerated section, not
sweetened)
1 finger chili*, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 stem of curry leaves (see Resources)
15 long green beans (you can use haricots verts), stems
discarded, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped the same size as the
green beans
Kosher salt
With a mortar and pestle, pound together the garlic and cumin