Avial - South Indian Recipes

South Indian Recipes

Avial - This is a wholesome concoction of fresh vegetables put together in thick gravy. Goes well with rice and accompanied by rasam or sambhar. Adai and Avial is another classic combination. You can choose to make the avial with or without curds. You can substitute the curd with tamarind pulp or raw mango. Typically the vegetables used in avial are elephant yam, raw banana, pumpkin, brinjal, drum stick, snake ground, beans and carrots.

Remember to cut the vegetables evenly for the avial. You can cut them into long strips. Cook the vegetables in the order of time they need to get cooked. Do not overcook the vegetables. You can make the avial of a consistency that you prefer; based on whether it is an accompaniment with rice. Avial is more a dish from Kerala than Tamil Nadu. It is incorporated into the Palakkad Iyer Cuisine.

If you skip the turmeric powder, you can get a white avial. Avial is part of the traditional Kerala Sadhya or traditional meal. But avial is also a tasty accompaniment to crisp adai or chapatis.

• 3 cups chopped carrots, beans, brinjals, white pumpkin, potatoes
  
  
• 1 cup grated coconut
  
  
• 8 green chillies
  
  
• 2 red chillies
  
  
• 1 tsp jeera
  
  
• 1/2 cup curd
  
  
• few curry leaves
  
  
• 1 tsp coconut oil
  

Cook all the vegetables evenly in little water with turmeric and salt added to it. Grind coconut, jeera, red chillies and green chillies to a fine paste in yoghurt. Add to the cooked vegetables and let it blend. Season with curry leaves and coconut oil.

Avial (without Coconut)

Mixed vegetables 2 cups
Green chillies 2
Small onions 6-7
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder 1/2 tsp
Jeera powder 1 tsp
Curd 1/2 cup

Boil all the vegetables in a pot of water. Mix turmeric, chilli and jeera powder in the curd. After the vegetables are cooked, add the curd mixture and salt. Toss the vegetables but do not cook for too long. Season with mustard seeds and curry leaves in coconut oil.