Avial- A mishmash of vegetables cooked in ground coconut & curd base!

This post is part of SADYA VIBHAVANGAL – Learn to make the traditional Kerala Feast- An Artist’s Edible Palette !

Another signature dish of Kerala and I have never had a Sadya where Avial was not served. All the traditional vegetables are thrown into this dish and come out as one of the yummiest dishes of all times. As with most of the other Kerala preparations, this dish also has a vegetable base, ground coconut mixture and a curd base and then seasoned with the freshness of coconut oil and curry leaves but still it is unique , like all the other preparations, and absolutely tasty too. Again, regional differences play its role in this dish as well. If curd is used in some regions, then it is raw green mango for some other regions and it is tamarind for some others. Some add big onion and some do not. The taste of this dish varies with the pick of vegetables used in its preparation too. At my place, we usually stay away from adding beetroot to this dish, as its color overwhelms the entire dish. Cooking avial in a “mann-chatti”, an earthenware from Kerala, embellishes the entire experience. This recipe is something which my mother has tailored to suit our family preferences.

Ingredients: (Approx.)
To grind:

• ¾ cup grated coconut
• A small piece of ginger, peeled
• 3-4 Indian green chillies
• 1 small clove of garlic
• A pinch of cumin seeds/jeera
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

To Cook:

• 1 – 1 ½ cups of traditional vegetables like Plantain, yam, ash gourd, drumsticks, carrot, cut into thin sticks
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 egg-size big onion
• 1-2 green chillies, slit opened lengthwise
• A small piece of ginger, thinly sliced
• A smidgen of red chilly powder
• A pinch of turmeric powder
• 3 tbsp homemade curd
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• Salt to taste

Directions:

• Grind grated coconut, ginger, green chillies , garlic, , cumin seeds with salt and turmeric powder into a coarse paste and keep it aside.
• In a “mann-chatti” (an earthenware from Kerala), cook all the vegetables, tomato, sliced big onion, ginger and green chillies by adding some water (very little, just to cook the veggies) along with salt and a pinch of turmeric and a smidgen of red chilly powder. When the veggies are cooked well, add the ground coconut paste and stir well to coat all the veggies in this ground mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add curd and stir gently. Adjust the salt. Crush the curry leaves in coconut oil and pour it to the veggie-coconut mix. Stir gently and turn off the stove.

Luv
Shn

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