Carrot Poriyal (Carrot-Kobbari Kura)

Here's wishing everyone a very Happy, Healthy & prosperous New Year -- 2015.
Hope everyone had a fun filled joyous holiday. Fun means lots of food in my book and I sure had lots and lots of fun for the past couple of weeks. After all the delicious bakes and holiday specials that I posted at the end of the year, I wanted to start the New Year with a healthy & simple dish.

I watched this recipe on a Telugu cooking show and loved how simple it was with very few ingredients. My mom makes dry carrot curry with coconut, but this recipe uses grated carrot along with some ginger and coconut making it a little different from what I'm used to. I bought a bag of shredded carrots from Trader Joe's for a shortcut, but shredding it yourself will be a good bicep exercise :-)

Ingredients:

Carrot - 2~3 medium, shredded or finely chopped (I used 10 oz. bag of shredded carrot)

Grated Coconut - 2tbsp, fresh or frozen

Green Chilies - 2, finely chopped (adjust as per taste)

Ginger - 1" piece, finely grated

Turmeric - ¼tsp 

Salt - to taste
Cilantro - 1tbsp, finely chopped (optional)

For the Tempering:

Chana dal - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Dry red chilies - 2
Curry leaves - 8~10

Method:

• Heat 2tsp oil in a saute pan; add the tempering ingredients and saute until dals turn golden and the seeds start to splutter. Add grated ginger and green chilies. Cook for 1 minute.
• Next add the chopped/ shredded carrot and turmeric. Mix well, cover and cook till carrot is tender -- for the shredded carrot, it took me about 8~10 minutes for the carrots to cook. It will take a little longer for chopped carrots.
• Season with salt. Finally add grated coconut and cook for another 2 minutes. Garnish with cilantro (if using) and serve with steamed rice. This curry goes well with rotis too.

Linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge: January -- Week 1'.