Simple Carrot Fry

Carrot fry/curry is of the easiest ways to make something totally yummy out of carrots. Normally, I add carrots to almost all the mixed vegetable dishes I make as they add a little sweetness to the dish, but don't make anything just out of carrots itself. But this curry has a great flavor that it makes me forget that I'm eating carrots :-).

Ingredients (2 - 3 servings):

Fresh carrots - 4 to 5 washed, peeled and chopped
Cooking oil - a couple of teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a couple of pinches
Dried red chillies - a couple of them broken by hand
Grated/powdered coconut (optional) - about 2 teaspoons
Red chilli powder (optional) - 1 teaspoon (vary this to suit your taste)
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. In a pan, heat some cooking oil, pop mustard seeds, add the urad dhal, asafoetida and dried red chillies and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color.
2. Add the chopped carrots to step 1, mix well, cover and cook on low heat for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the carrots get cooked.
3. Add some red chilli powder and salt to step 2 and fry the carrots on medium heat for another 5 - 7 minutes and turn off the stove. You can add some grated/powdered coconut now, but otherwise the carrot fry is ready to go.

This goes great with rice and sambar or rasam.