This Avarakkai Poduthuval/ Thoran or Green Hyacinth Beans is representative of cooking certain vegetables representative in our traditional Palakkad Iyer style. A poduthuval (Palakkad Iyer Tamil) or Thoran (Malayalam) is a dry vegetable side dish. The diced or sliced vegetable is stir-fried, South Indian style, and finished with a sprinkling of fresh coconut. Kerala style Thorans sometimes are made with onions and garlic too. We are a community that traditionally eats neither so out Poduthuval/ Thorans are made without them.
Poduthuval/ Thoran is generally made with certain kinds of vegetables like variety of beans, carrots, cabbage, jackfruit, pumpkin, amaranth greens, banana blossoms or flowers, snake gourd, etc., to mention a few. I make some kind of Poduthuval/ Thoran at least 3 days a week as a side for lunch. Certain vegetable combinations like cabbage and French beans, carrots and French beans, cabbage and carrots, cabbage and green peas also lend themselves well to making this recipe.
I read somewhere that the origin of the name “poduthuval” comes from “podi” (meaning powder, of the spicy kind) and “thuval” (meaning to sprinkle). In Tamilnadu, there is a type of vegetable preparation where a coarse spice and lentil powder is sprinkled to finish the dish. It is possible that that has been adapted to use coconut instead, using the plentiful supply of coconuts in Kerala. Possibly, the original name remained but the recipe changed a bit over time.
This Avarakkai Poduthuval/ Thoran or Green Hyacinth Beans and others like this, can also be made two ways. One is to finish the dish with just a sprinkling of fresh grated coconut which is mixed in before serving. The other is to use a crushed coarse mix of fresh grated coconut and green chillies to finish it. Both taste good, but my preference is for the second method. Crushing the coconut releases a little of the coconut milk which gives the Poduthuval/ Thoran a different taste entirely. If using the first method, just slit a couple of green chillies lengthwise and add it along with the beans while cooking.
Poduthuval/ Thoran can also made without the final addition of coconut. Certain vegetables, especially hyacinth beans (avarakkai) and cluster beans (kothavarakkai), which have a faintly bitter or strong flavour are best cooked with coconut. Avarakkai or Hyacinth Beans are also known as Lablab beans. There are different varieties of Hyacinth beans and the one commonly found in our markets are green or very deep green. They’re also known as “Sem” in Hindi and “Vaalpapdi” in Goa.
Avarakkai Poduthuval/ Thoran or Green Hyacinth Beans
Ingredients
- 1/4 kg Hyacinth beans (Avarakkai)
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- to taste salt
- 2 tbsps fresh grated coconut
- 2 green chillies
For tempering:
- 1 1/2 tsps coconut oil or oil of choice
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 1/2 tsps black gram lentils (urad dal)
- 1 sprig curry leaves
Instructions
- Wash the beans, and string them. Trim off both ends of each bean and then finely chop the beans. If there any beans which are a bit mature, shell them and discard the pods.
- If you are using the microwave to cook your vegetables, like I do, then cook the beans till they're done. And then proceed as described below.
- In a pan, heat the oil (coconut oil gives an authentic flavour and taste) and add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the black gram lentils and sautxe9 till they brown. Now add the curry leaves, stir once and add the beans. Stir fry the beans for a couple of minutes, then add half a cup of water. Add the salt and turmeric powder and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow the beans to cook till done and the water has evaporated completely.
- If you microwaved your beans, then add the beans where mentioned above. Just don't add the water for cooking. Sprinkle a handful of water, add the turmeric powder and salt and make sure the beans are well coated and seasoned and sautxe9 till the little water there was has evaporated completely. Take the cooked beans off the heat.
- Now run the grated coconut and the green chillies in the jar of your mixer grinder, a couple of times, without adding any water. You will have crushed mixture of the coconut and chillies, with flecks of the green chillies showing. Do not grind to a paste.
- This crushing releases the flavours/ juice in the coconut and the chillies. Add this to the beans and stir well to mix.
- Serve warm with rice, a vegetable in gravy preparation like sambhar, rasam or pulissery.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
I love love thoran like these and yours look yumm.It is a pity my hubby and daughter don’t like it. See one is missing out a lot of the rest of the family don’t like a particular veg or a dish.
I always knew it as thoran. This is probably the most frequently cooked bean recipe in my home. the kids just love the green & not so mushy overcooked texture. Yours look really fresh like a nice crunchy salad. that’s what i like about this recipe. i did’t know u could do this with sem tho’.
In 11 yrs since we moved to US, I got Avarekai once in Atlanta Indian store, I was so happy!! :DI love fresh Avarekai, Thoran looks so delicious. Lucky girl, enjoy! 🙂
I often make cabbage this way … always love the combination of freshly grated coconut with sauteed and slightly crunchy fresh greens. Now I’ll try with these beans. 🙂
love avarakkai, but, sadly i havent seen it much around here!! the thoran looks delicious!
Oh I have never cooked with these. My dad hated these beans, so, I guess.@ Asha: Come more often to Atlanta 😉
The bean, cabbage is made this way. But not the avarakai. Looks simply tasty!
Excellent looking thoran. I like the tip about how to cook beans in the microwave. I am going to follow this tip for sure. Thanks so much.Radha
I have never tried avarakkai..But thoran is my life line..Make it almost everyday..looks delish..:)happy weekend dear..:)
Miss that frest avarekai..We don’t get here..It looks so yumm..
Hi,Thoran is a new found recipe for me 🙂 I got the recipe from my dear friend n blogger superchef 🙂 I’m so glad to read ur recipe and the combi veggies that can be used to make thoran 🙂 Thanks for the tips.Happy weekend :)TC
lovely recipe… my mother makes this… your picture looks awesome…
For the last two months, i had cooked avarakkai atleast twice in a week. Had a bumber harvest of avarakkai at home.
Agree with u 100% on the “thoran is just not the same without coconut” stance….
Love avvarakai so much..It looks tasty and the pics are great 🙂
I just heard the name. By the look of it, it is runner beans we call it. Does it grow to rambling the fence? If it does, then it might be the same beans. These beans often are tough when they are left too long on the vine. I often use the young ones to accompany meat/chicken roast dishes, traditional English one, I suppose. Cooking this way can be another challenge for my family but surely can be a crowd pleaser in a party, I believe 🙂
your las pic tempts me a lot…it looks so appetizing, no matter how simple the dish is….i feel like going home now…:(
HC,I understand what you mean. There are a few vegetables and dishes that my husband and daughter don’t and since its too much of an effort to cook them just for me, I keep missing them!Cooking them in the MW helps keep them from ging mushy, Soma.Asha, since you grow a lot of vegetables, maybe you could try growing these too.I guess this not available in many places out there, Manju and Ashwini. But you can make this with any other variety of beans too.You’re welcome, Radha.Thanks Varsha and Suparna. Same to you.Really, Jayasree. Though you must be a bit tired of this by now, I guess.:DArfi,I checked out pictures of runner beans, and though it seems very similar I think it is not the same thing. I am more familiar with the local names of many of these vegetables than their English names.:D These beans (Hyacinth) also grow on a vine (either on a trellis or on the ground) and yes, they also become tough if left too long on the vine. Then you can really use only the beans inside the pods. But if they are plucked when they are tender and cooked, they make a very tasty vegetable. Any member of the beans family (like string beans, yard long beans, cluster beans, etc) can be cooked like this with coconut and green chillies. Homesickness, huh, Shn? 🙂
Hi MDKi would like to thank you for this recipe. i am a pallakad iyer leading a bachelor life and missed home food. I tried this recipe and was felt like home.i thank the MDK team once again. cheersrahul raman
Rahul,Good to know this recipe reminded you of home. 🙂
Hi All,
I tried to make a poduthuval out of cauliflower. We’ve been using this vegetable only to make stuffed parathas, alu gobi sabzi, and occasionally mixed veg. My late mother, God bless her soul, used to make molakootal with cauliflower and just a handful of green peas, especially during the winters in Mumbai, when the markets were flooded with this at ₹5 a kilo. LOL.
Anyway, I microwaved the cauliflower buds for around 40 seconds and drained off the water to remove the keedas and dirt, if any. After rinsing it a couple of times, I finely chopped the flower and brought it to a boiling point and making sure the crispness was not lost. There is nothing I hate more than soggy cauliflower 🙂
I then did the usual way of seasoning the poduthuval with coconut oil, and grinding in the coconut and mirchi. It was alright, not as great as the king of poduthuvals – vazhathand and others like avarakkai, cabbage, padval, gawar etc.
My favored combination is either parikkai pitla or katharikkai rasavangi and any poduthuval .