Carrot poriyal recipe- A delicious, quick and easy to make south Indian Tamil nadu style carrot stir fry recipe with fresh coconut, spices and curry leaves.
Ready in 20 minutes, vegan, so delicious and nutritious. Serve with sambar, rasam rice or dal fry, paratha as side dish.
For more carrot recipes please check carrot chutney, gajar halwa, carrot salad, gajar matar, carrot kheer, carrot pancakes recipes.
Its winter officially when we see markets flooded with those gorgeous Delhi gajar or red carrots. I just cannot stop myself from bringing home these beauties every single time. There are plenty of ways to enjoy these carrots, so that’s not a complaint 🙂
While gajar halwa or a carrot cake is always on the cards, humble recipes like this carrot poriyal with fresh carrots is something I absolutely love to make.
This is a very home style recipe and everyday affair in Tamil nadu homes. Made with very few simple ingredients and ready in 20 minutes maximum it is perfect for busy mornings, to pack in lunch or for quick dinner.
We generally make this recipe with regular carrots but when red carrots are in season, I don’t want to miss them. They are sweeter, vibrant and just prettier 🙂
So here is the recipe for carrot poriyal with step by step pictures, variations, tips and serving ideas. Enjoy!
About This Recipe
What is poriyal?
Poriyal is the Tamil word for south Indian style stir fried vegetables. It literally means frying.
It is a method where you stir fry chopped vegetables with little oil in a simple tempering with ingredients like mustard, urad dal, curry leaves. This is a dry dish which many or may not contain grated fresh coconut as garnish.
There are many ways to make poriyal. In some recipes we add soaked moong dal, few recipes contain onion and in few recipes fresh spice blends are added, but the main recipe is the same.
We make a poriyal almost everyday in south Indian homes. It is served as side dish with Indian food like rice and arachuvitta sambar, rasam, keerai masiyal and even curd rice.
A simple poriyal also goes well with variety rice like lemon rice, coconut rice, pepper rice types. It is naturally vegan recipe. To make it gluten free just skip adding asafoetida or hing in this recipe.
Do try this easy to make carrot poriyal that is
quick and simple
vegan
healthy and wholesome
delicious and flavorful.
Ingredients For Carrot Poriyal Recipe
Carrots– You can use any variety of carrots in this recipe. You can keep the peel or scrub it off as per your choice. Just make sure to dice the carrots in equal size. You can also grate the carrots but gather crunch of the vegetable will be lost. Also while using grated carrots, the cooking time will reduce.
Oil– I always use sesame oil or gingelly oil in this recipe. Actually it is the oil I use for most of my recipes as it is very good coolant and nutritious. If you do not like the slight bitter taste of this oil you can use peanut oil or any vegetable oil too.
Mustard seeds– small brown ones, to temper
Urad dal– to temper. You can also add chana dal.
Green chillies– Optional, adds a little heat.
Curry leaves- for flavor and taste, I usually add generously
Salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder– seasoning
Coconut- Freshly grated or frozen unsweetened coconut adds a wonderful texture , taste and flavor to this recipe. It is a must in poriyal recipes in many homes but you can totally skip it.
How To Make Carrot Poriyal- South Indian Style
Begin by rinsing the carrots thoroughly. If you want to keep the peel, then soak the carrots in water mixed with few drops of vinegar for 5 minutes and rinse well again. Else, just rinse thoroughly and remove the peel using a peeler or sharp knife.
Next chop the carrots finely or dice them in preferred size. I do not chop them very finely as chopping vegetables very finely leads to some nutrition loss.
Heat oil in a kadai or heavy pan. I like to use cast iron pan for these recipes to get a dose of iron too 🙂 You can also use any heavy skillet or saute pan to make carrot stir fry recipe.
Once the oil is hot but not smoking, add mustard seeds, 2 teaspoons urad dal, one slit green chili and 15 curry leaves, roughly torn and a small pinch asafoetida. Fry for a minute until urad dal turns crispy. These are tempering ingredients for south Indian style carrot poriyal.
Now add the chopped carrots and mix well. Stir fry in high flame for 2 minutes.
Next we will add the seasonings for making carrot stir fry- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and salt to taste.
Mix well, close with a lid and cook in medium flame until the carrots turn soft. At this stage you can sprinkle little water around 1/4 cup water but I don’t do that. We love dry poriyal that is not mushy and too soft.
Once the carrots are well cooked and soft add grated coconut. You just want the carrots to be cooked a bit more than fork tender. If fresh coconut is unavailable you can use unsweetened frozen coconut too.
Mix well and stir fry for another 2 minutes.
Remove from flame. Transfer to a serving bowl.
Serve carrot poriyal warm. We don’t garnish poriyals with coriander leaves, you may if you want to.
Storage
This carrot poriyal with coconut is best served within 3 hours of making. It does not keep well more than that.
If you wish to store this poriyal, prepare as mentioned in the recipe and skip adding coconut. Now you now store it in the refrigerator for 2 days.
If you want to pack this in lunch box, coconut is best avoided especially during summers.
Reheat and add coconut just before serving.
Variations Of Carrot Stir Fry
Carrot beans poriyal– to the same recipe you can 1 cup finely chopped and steamed beans to make it healthier and colorful.
With green peas– you can also add 1 cup shelled and blanched green peas in this recipe.
With moong dal– Sometimes I add mung dal to this recipe carrot poriyal. Just soak 1/2 cup mung dal for 15 minutes, drain in a colander and add along with urad dal. Saute till it turns soft, add carrots and proceed with the recipe.
With peanuts– Instead of adding coconut or along with them you can add 1/2 cup roasted and crushed peanuts. This is something I do very often as we love the taste and crunch. I also do this with vendakai poriyal, avarakkai poriyal
Spice powder variations– Instead of red chili powder you can use sambar powder, curry powder or even this peanut podi in this recipe.
Pro Tips
While dicing the carrots make sure they are of uniform size.
While making for elders and very small kids, you can grate the carrots as it will make softer poriyal easy to eat.
If you want to make a super soft carrot poriyal you can steam or use a pressure cooker to cook the carrot until fork tender and temper after that.
Also while making for kids you can skip green chilies and red chili powder. Just add a pinch of pepper while serving or prepare as this cauliflower pepper fry recipe
Instead of green chilies you can also add 2 dried red chillies
To make this carrot poriyal gluten free skip adding asafoetida.
If you wish you can add finely chopped onions to this carrot poriyal recipe. Saute along with curry leaves.
Serving Suggestions
Serve carrot poriyal warm with sambar, dal fry, sambar rice, rasam rice.
This also goes well with roti, plain paratha.
More Poriyal Recipes
I hope you will try this vegetable cutlet recipe and enjoy as much as we did. Please give a star rating ★ in the recipe card below if you have tried this recipe. Follow us on Pinterest , Instagram, Facebook for more recipes and ideas.
Recipe Card
Carrot Poriyal- South Indian Carrot Stir Fry
1 CUP = 250 ml
Ingredients
- 300 grams carrots Chopped
- 3 teaspoons oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons urad dal
- 15 curry leaves
- 1 green chili
- 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida hing
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
Instructions
- Chop the carrots finely or dice them in preferred size. I do not chop them very finely as chopping vegetables very finely leads to some nutrition loss.
- Heat oil in a kadai or heavy pan. Once the oil is hot but not smoking, add mustard seeds, 2 teaspoons urad dal, one slit green chili and 15 curry leaves, roughly torn and a small pinch asafoetida. Fry for a minute until urad dal turns crispy. These are tempering ingredients for south Indian style carrot poriyal.
- Now add the chopped carrots and mix well. Stir fry in high flame for 2 minutes.
- Next we will add the seasonings for making carrot stir fry- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and salt to taste.
- Mix well, close with a lid and cook in medium flame until the carrots turn soft. At this stage you can sprinkle little water around 1/4 cup water but I don't do that. We love dry poriyal that is not mushy and too soft.
- Once the carrots are well cooked and soft add grated coconut. You just want the carrots to be cooked a bit more than fork tender.
- Mix well and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Remove from flame. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve carrot poriyal warm. We don't garnish poriyals with coriander leaves, you may if you want to.
Leave a Reply