August 21, 2012

Kerala Style Avial (Mixed vegetables in coconut and yogurt sauce)



The malayalam word "avial"  means an assortment or a mixture. Avial is a popular side dish in traditional Kerala, Tamil or Udupi cuisine and is basically a mixture of vegetables, Yogurt and Coconut, seasoned with Cumin. It is an essential part of the Onam Sadya and frequently prepared in most South-Indian households. 
Vegetables commonly used in the Avial are the Elephant Yam, Plantain, Pumpkin, Carrots, Beans, Brinjal, Cucumber, Drum sticks, Snake gourd, and in some cases the Bitter gourd (in North Kerala versions). This dish is generally eaten with rice. 

The secret behind a good Avial preparation is to get the texture of the vegetables just right- they should be al-dente (neither too mushy nor undercooked). If you over cook them, you will result with a sloppy and sticky dish, therefore pay special attention to the vegetables while you cook. 

Serves 6

Ingredients 

6 Cup – Vegetables, cut into 1.5 inch long pieces (Refer notes)
½ - Onion, sliced OR 3-4 – Shallots/Kunjulli
1 – Tomato
Salt to taste

½ Cup - Yogurt
Coconut Oil

To grind 
¾ Cup – Coconut
½ Tsp – Turmeric
¾ Tsp – Jeera/Cumin/Jeerakam
1 sprig – Curry leaf
4 - Green Chilly
1 cm – Fresh ginger
1 clove – Garlic (optional) *Refer Notes and Tips

Directions 

  • Cook the vegetables and onions by adding little water, and salt. Add vegetables one by one according to their cooking time. Vegetables like Chembu/Taro, Carrot etc. take longer time to cook, so they go in first. Add the tomatoes at the end. 
  • While the vegetables are cooking, grind the coconut, jeera, turmeric, curry leaves, green chilly, ginger and garlic in just enough water to make a thick paste 
  • Add the ground coconut paste to the cooked vegetables 
  • Stir in yogurt. 
  • Drizzle with Coconut oil and serve hot 


Notes and Tips 

  • You can use vegetables of your choice like Drumstick, Taro/chembu, pumpkin/mathan, Carrot, Yam/chena, Kaya/ Raw Banana
  • Add vegetables one by one, according to their cooking times. The vegetables that take longer to cook, go in first 
  • Traditional Avial recipes does not use garlic but I always put in a clove of Garlic to enhance the flavor of the dish. (Optional) 
  • If you are in the US or any other foreign country and do not have access to an Indian store close-by here are some of the American vegetables that you can substitute for Indian vegetables 
    • Asparagus -> Drumstick 
    • Zucchini -> Velarikka (Yellow Cucumber) 
    • Butternut squash or acorn squash -> Mathangya 
    • Cucumber -> Kumbalanga 
    • Raw Plantain -> Raw Banana/Kaya
    • Frozen cut Okra (Vendakka/Ladysfinger) is available in most supermarkets 





7 comments :

  1. this dish needs alertness if veggies are overdone then the taste will not be the same..Looks really tempting.. and like that spoon that has blue beads in it...

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  2. Looks so delicious, have had this in many of my friends home.
    And I love that spoon :))

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  3. wow my fav avial,luks too gud...

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  4. that spoon s so cute! and boy dont i love aviyal!

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  5. I never made avial .. but I have always loved it .. specially with some appam! I am saving this recipe. I gotta give this a try :)

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  6. Thank you so much for your lovely comments. It sure does keep me going!!! Love you foodies!!

    ReplyDelete

First of all thanks a lot for stopping by my space. I would be very happy to hear from you and would love to see your comments and feedback :)
Thanks a bunch,
Shema

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