This delicious Asparagus Stir Fry or Talasani (or Thalasani) as we call it is a simple and quick Konkani style classic side dish, seasoned with only roasted garlic and dry red chilies!
With some hot steaming rice and a simple dalithoy (Konkani style dal), it is the ultimate comfort food for any Mangalorean Konkani from south India!
Summer cooking should be quick, fresh and fuss free with just simple ingredients available during the season. Toiling over a hot stove in the sweltering hot summer days is not my idea of cooking! A quick stir fry which is ready in less than 15 minutes (prepping and cooking) is my kind of dish.
Recently, on a trip to H Mart, the quintessential Asian grocery store that is packed with fresh vegetables (but of course, lots of meat too!), I picked up these gorgeous, fresh and so tender asparagus stalks.
Immediately, the next day, I decided to make talasani with it and I was not disappointed. It was so fresh and tender and cooked in no time; 5 minutes to be exact!
Dish up hot steamed rice in a pressure cooker or rice cooker along with dal (you can cook both in the same cooker or simultaneously in two cookers), season or temper and a simple meal is ready in less than 30 minutes!
Pair it with a salad like Raw Carrot and Beetroot Salad or Mung Bean Sprouts, Sweet Corn and Mango Salad (you can chop these up when the rice and dal is cooking) and a complete healthy and delicious Indian meal with rice, dal (we love it with Konkani style dal called "dalithoy"), salad and a vegetable stir fry is ready to be plated up on your table!
I love all stir fries like broccoli talasani, green beans stir fry or even a zucchini stir fry; the fresh crunch of vegetables just cooked to a crisp tender bite is my kind of fresh vegetable curry. During my last visit to the grocery store, I came across a fresh bunch of tender asparagus. It had been a long time since I had made my favorite asparagus stir fry (it is still not easily available in India) and with just a few days left to enjoy my stay in my son’s house in San Diego, I had to savor the flavor of this highly nutritious vegetable once more.
All it takes is to chop up the vegetable and stir fry in a garlic (the best way to do it is crush it with the skin in a mortar pestle) and chillis tempering on medium high heat for just a few minutes; crunchy, tasty and healthy green asparagus stir fry is yours to enjoy.
HOW TO DO YOU MAKE ASPARAGUS TALASANI?
Wash and cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces.
The way to cut it is not with a knife but using your fingers. Break off 1-inch pieces from the top of each stalk; it should be tender and break off easily.
Continue to do that until you get to the bottom portion or until you are unable to break it off easily and there is a resistance; that is the tough portion. Stop there and discard the rest of the asparagus stalk.
Do this with all the stalks.
To make talasani or Konkani style stir fry, heat a pan with some oil. When hot, add chopped or better yet, as most Konkani cooks do, crush whole garlic cloves (skin included) with a small stone or pestle of a mortar and pestle.
Sauté on medium heat until starting to brown, then add roughly chopped or torn dry red chilies. Fry again just for a few seconds; do not let it burn or they will turn bitter.
Add the asparagus and salt to taste.
Mix well and cook on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes or just until they are cooked but still have a bite to them. Do not over cook! The total time for cooking depends upon the asparagus. Some are ready in just 5 minutes and yet some take at least 10 minutes to get cooked.
Mine were super fresh and were ready in 5 minutes!
Remove and enjoy with rice and dal or as we did, some rice, Mooga Ghashi (sprouted green whole mung beans coconut curry) and some leftoever marinated vegetable salad.
Enjoy and Happy Cooking/Eating!
Do try this awesome, totally vegan vegetable talasani and let me know in the comment box below or on my Facebook page, how much you enjoyed it by sharing your version.
This amazing Asparagus stir fry or talasani is a simple and quick Konkani style classic side dish, seasoned with only roasted garlic and dry red chillies
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped asparagus
- 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, chopped, sliced or crushed
- 2 to 3 dry red chilies, halved or cut up into 2 to 3 pieces
- 2-3 teaspoons coconut oil (or any cooking oil)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Chopping asparagus:
- Wash asparagus and drain water. Take one asparagus and gently break off a small piece of the thicker end until it breaks off on its own. Discard this hard portion.
- Chop the remaining tender stalk into 1 inch pieces. Continue with the rest of the asparagus.
- Heat oil in a saucepan (wok or even a cast iron skillet); once oil is hot, stir in garlic and fry on medium heat until it starts to brown. Immediately add the dry red chilies, give it a good mix and then toss in the chopped asparagus.
- Sprinkle salt to taste, drizzle some water over it, give it a good mix and cook on medium high heat, loosely covered , stirring in between until the vegetable is crisp tender and still crunchy. This takes about just a 5 to 6 minutes or until it is bright green, cooked yet still crunchy.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately with rice and dal or any meal
- Enjoy!.
Notes
If you do not have dry red chillies, you can use some red chilli powder or chilli flakes instead.
Take care not to overcook; it tastes best crisp tender and crunchy.
Serve as a side dish.
You can follow the same recipe for broccoli, zucchini, green beans etc.
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Whats is the konkani name for asparagus?
There is no Konkani name for asparagus; it is a western vegetable that is not indigenous to India. With global cuisine exploding everywhere, markets in India too are procuring and selling this vegetable!
A great quick and tasty asparagus recipe 🙂
Thanks Loretta 🙂