AVIAL

Avial is a gastronomic delight which has its roots in Kerala. It is also nutritious because it has most of the vegetables in it. Kerala is a state in the south western coast of India. Its skyline is dotted with coconut palms. Hence most of the kerala cusine will have coconut as an ingredient & coconut oil is used predominantly.

Preparation Time: 20 mts. Cooking Time: 20 mts. Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS:

carrots, beans, pumpkin(poozanikkai), snake gouard(pudalangai) - 50 gms of each
raw banana(vazhakkai) - 1 no.
drum stick (murungaikkai)- 1 no.
elephant foot yam(chenai) - 50 gms
potato - 1 no.
long beans ( payaru) - 50 gms
raw mango - 1 no.
curry leaves(kariveppilai) - 2 sprigs
salt - to taste
turmeric powder - 1 tsp
coconut oil - 2 tsps.

TO GRIND:

coconut - 3/4 cup
green chillies - 3-4 nos. according to spice level needed
cumin seeds (jeerakam) - 1 tsp.

METHOD:

Cut all the vegetables in to pencil thin slices 1 1/2 inches long. Grind all the grinding ingredients to a nice paste. In a flat bottom vessel, put all the vegetables with enough water, salt & turmeric powder. Boil the vegetables till they are cooked & tender. Add the ground paste & bring it to boil. Add curry leaves & coconut oil & switch off the stove. Avial is ready.

VARIATIONS:
Avial can be had as both main dish (to mix with rice ) & side dish. My recipe is for the main dish. For avial as side dish, drain off all the water after cooking the vegetables & then add the ground masala. Rest of the recipe is the same.

TIPS:

1. Mango can be replaced with tamarind. Replace 1 mango with 1 tsp of tamarind paste. If using regular tamarind, take 1 small lemon sized tamarind & roll it into a thick ball. Make a well in between the vegetables & keep this ball there. Once the vegetables are cooked, remove this ball.
2. Curd can also be used instead of mango & tamarind. Take 1/2 cup of curd & mix the ground ingredients to it & add it to the vegetables & boil.
3. Avial can be made with just one vegetable also. Vegetables like pumpkin, drumsticks are ideal for this.
4. Any vegetable can be used to make avial. Most of the vegetables i have used are native indian vegetables but we can use them according to availability with the exception of beetroot.
5. Coconut oil has a very special smell. For those who are not used to this, any other oil can be used according to their taste.

This avial can be had with rice, adai, puris & rotis.

Try it & enjoy.