Surprise your guests with spring onion straws and then thoran

Ever since the plastic ban in Kerala, hotels and bakeries have been trying to come up with eco-friendly substitutes for the plastic straw. Spring onions are an excellent alternative which is natural and green.

After drinking the juice, you could eat the straw or just throw it away as it is biodegradable. Up to 110 straws could be made using a kilogram of spring onion. 

Spring onion also has excellent use in your kitchen as it makes a delicious thoran (stir fry). Here is recipe for Kerala-style stir fry with spring onions.

Ingredients
½ kg spring onion
5 green chillies
3 dried chillies
¼ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp chilli powder
1 cup grated coconut
Salt as required
Curry leaves as required
Coconut oil as required
8+6 shallots
4 cloves garlic
½ tsp mustard seeds

Preparation
Remove the flowers and finely chop the spring onion
Grind the shallots, green chillies, garlic, turmeric powder and grated coconut in a mixer jar without adding any water
Heat a table spoon of coconut oil in a pan
Splutter the mustard seeds
Add dried chillies, curry leaves and chopped shallots
Sauté this until the shallots turns translucent
Now add the coconut mixture and some turmeric powder as well
Mix well
Into it add the chopped spring onion and salt as required
Give everything a good mix
Cook on low flame with the lid on
Stir the dish at intervals
Stir fry until the water gets evaporated
Transfer the spring onion stir fry into another dish after it has cooked well.