A popular South Indian vegetarian delicacy and one of my favorite veggie curries…
I love anything that’s made with roasted coconut. In Kerala, there a lot of curries made with roasted coconut: fish curries, veggie curries etc. In fact, most of the Kerala veggie dishes have coconut added to it. Don’t be surprised as Kerala is the land of coconuts. Also, most of the curries can be also made without roasting the coconut, just by adding the ground coconut paste. However, by roasting the coconut along with some spices and then pureeing it to a paste and combining it with fish or veggies enhances the taste of that dish greatly. Whoever has tried both the versions would definitely agree with me.
I had already posted the recipe for making fish in roasted coconut gravy, check that out it tastes really delicious. Well, this dish is very similar to that, only difference is that okra is added instead of fish. This is called theeyal, theeyal means ‘burnt dish’ as the coconut is roasted till it gets brown or slightly burnt. This can be also made with shrimp, eggplant, drumstick etc.
Okra Theeyal
Ingredients
For roasting coconut
- Oil- 2 tbsp
- Coconut, grated- 1 cup
- Shallots or small onion, chopped – 2 shallots or 3 small onion
- Curry leaves- 8 leaves
- Coriander seeds- 1 tbsp
- Black peppercorns- 1 1/2 tsp
- Kashmiri red chili powder- 1 1/2 tsp (for more heat add regular hot chili powder)
- Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
- Water- 3/4 cup to grind coconut
While cooking:
- Coconut oil or vegetable oil- 3 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 2 tsp
- Dried red chilies- 2
- Okra- 20, cut into 1-inch round slices
- Shallots or small onions, chopped long and thin- 3 shallots or 8 small onions
- Water- 1/2 cup
- Salt- 1 1/2 tsp
- Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp, if you need the curry to be spicy
- Tamarind extract- 1/2 cup, soak 2-inch fresh tamarind slice in 1/2 cup lukewarm water
Instruction
Roasting coconut:
- Place a large non-stick or cast iron pan over medium heat, add oil, grated coconut, shallots and curry leaves.
- Stir fry the coconut frequently till it turns light brown in color.
- Don’t leave it unattended as the coconut will burn pretty fast, so keep stirring it.
- Once the coconut has turned light brown, add coriander seeds, black peppercorns, kashmiri chili powder and turmeric powder.
- Saute for a minute and remove the pan from the heat, let the coconut cool down.
- In a blender, puree the roasted coconut along with 3/4 cup water to a smooth paste, keep aside.
Making the Theeyal:
- Cut okra into 1-inch slices and shallots to thin long slices.
- Soak 2-inch slice fresh tamarind in 1/2 cup lukewarm water for 5 minutes, squeeze the tamarind using your fingers to release the juice.
- Strain the tamarind juice, discard the seeds and skin.
- Place a pan over medium heat, add coconut oil and let it turn hot.
- Add mustard seeds, let splutter.
- Add dried red chilies, saute for a few seconds.
- Add okra and shallots, combine well.
- Cook covered for a few minutes till okra starts to turn soft.
- Add 1/4 cup water if the okra is sticking to the pan.
- Once the okra has turned soft, add the ground coconut paste, combine well.
- Add salt and 1/2 cup water to thin down the gravy.
- Cook covered for 10 minutes till the gravy starts to thicken.
- Add the tamarind extract and combine well.
- Taste and add more salt, ground pepper if needed.
- Let the gravy come to a slight boil and remove the pan from the heat.
- You could make the gravy thick or thin based on your preference.
- Keep the curry covered for some time so that the flavors will incorporate well.
- Enjoy with rice, orotti, chapati, pathiri etc.
Tips:
- Instead of okra you can also use shrimp, eggplant, moringa-drumstick, or fish.
Okra Theeyal or Okra in Roasted Coconut Gravy
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Thasneen
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 5 People
Ingredients
For roasting coconut
- Oil- 2 tbsp
- Coconut, grated- 1 cup
- Shallots or small onion, chopped - 2 shallots or 3 small/pearl onions
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Coriander seeds- 1 tbsp
- Black peppercorns- 1½ tsp
- Kashmiri red chili powder- 1½ tsp (for more heat add regular hot chili powder)
- Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
- Water- ¾ cup to grind coconut
While cooking
- Coconut oil or vegetable oil- 3 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 2 tsp
- Red dry chili- 2
- Okra- 20, cut into 1 inch round slices
- Shallots, chopped long and thin- 3 large shallots or 8 small onion
- Water- ½ cup
- Salt- 1½ tsp
- Ground pepper- ¼ tsp, if you need the curry to be spicy
- Tamarind extract- ½ cup, soak 2-inch fresh tamarind slice in ½ cup lukewarm water
Instructions
Roasting coconut
- Place a large non-stick or cast iron pan over medium heat, add oil, grated coconut, shallots and curry leaves.
- Stir fry the coconut frequently till it turns light brown in color.
- Don't leave it unattended as the coconut will burn pretty fast, so keep stirring it.
- Once the coconut has turned light brown, add coriander seeds, black peppercorns, kashmiri chili powder and turmeric powder.
- Saute for a minute and remove the pan from the heat, let the coconut cool down.
- In a blender, puree the roasted coconut along with ¾ cup water to a smooth paste, keep aside.
Making the Theeyal
- Cut okra into 1-inch slices and shallots to thin long slices.
- Soak 2-inch slice fresh tamarind in ½ cup lukewarm water for 5 minutes, squeeze the tamarind using your fingers to release the juice.
- Strain the tamarind juice, discard the seeds and skin.
- Place a pan over medium heat, add coconut oil and let it turn hot.
- Add mustard seeds, let splutter.
- Add dried red chilies, saute for a few seconds.
- Add okra and shallots, combine well.
- Cook covered for a few minutes till okra starts to turn soft.
- Add ¼ cup water if the okra is sticking to the pan.
- Once the okra has turned soft, add the ground coconut paste, combine well.
- Add salt and water to thin down the gravy.
- Cook covered for 10 minutes till the gravy starts to thicken.
- Add the tamarind extract and combine well.
- Taste and add more salt, ground pepper if needed.
- Let the gravy come to a slight boil and remove the pan from the heat.
- You could make the gravy thick or thin based on your preference.
- Keep the curry covered for a few minutes.
- Enjoy with rice, orotti, chapati, pathiri etc.
Notes
Instead of okra you can also use shrimp, eggplant, moringa-drumstick, or fish.
