Milind G
Avial is a classic Kerala dish made with as many vegetables as one can get. It is a mix of all vegetables in coconut and curd mixture. You can add all kinds of vegetables like pumpkin, ashgourd, drumstick, raw banana, raw mango, yam, beans, long beans, potato, carrot, cucumber, brinjal, snake gourd and many others. My grandmother adds bitter gourd also to avial. But I don’t prefer adding brinjals or bitter gourds to my avial. Usually, adding mango is optional but you can add mangoes if you feel that the curd is not sour enough. In that case, raw mangoes will give a sour taste to the dish.
How to make avial:
Method of making avial is very easy. Cook all the vegetables with salt, green chilly and turmeric powder. Grind coarsely coconut, green chilly and cumin seeds. Add this mixture when vegetables are cooked well, then turn off the flame, add curd, curry leaves and coconut oil, mix well. Avial is usually served with rice and is an indispensable dish during Kerala sadya. But along with that adai avial is another combination.
There is a story behind how avial came into being. The maharaja of Travancore used to perform murajapam (vedic seminar) once in a year. Once it happened that there was no vegetables left on the day of murajapam. Only few pieces of veggies were left. The cook then cut all the vegetables into long pieces, mixed it with curd and coconut and then made avial. The king liked it so much that he presented the cook with a gold bracelet and ordered that the dish will be prepared every year. It is a dish with high nutritional value.
Ingredients required
- ash gourd 1 1/2 cup
- beans , long beans 1 cup
- carrot 1/2 cup
- drum stick 1
- mango (optional) 4 -5 pieces
- raw banana 1/2
- yam / chena 1/4 cup
- curd 1/2 cup
- curry leaves 2 sprigs
- coconut oil 1 tablespoon
- salt to taste
- green chilly 1
for grinding
- coconut 1 cup
- green chilly 2
- jeera / cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Method
1. Wash and chop all the vegetables into 1 inch long pieces. Chop raw banana and keep it immersed in turmeric water to remove the stains.
2. Heat coconut oil in a pan. Add all the chopped vegetables, salt, turmeric powder, slit green chilly and mix well. Add 1/2 cup of water, mix well and bring it to boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the flame, cover with a lid and let it cook in medium flame. Keep stirring gently in between to avoid sticking to the bottom. (Don’t mash the veggies)
3. Mean while, add all the ingredients given under “for grinding” in a mixer jar, and crush it. Coarsely grind it, without adding water.
4. Once the vegetables are cooked well, add the ground coconut mixture, and mix it gently. Once the contents are mixed well, turn off the stove.
5. Remove it from stove, and add curd, quickly mix well. Then add curry leaves and add coconut oil on top, mix gently.
6. Cover and keep it aside for some time so that the flavor get locked inside the dish.
7. Serve with rice.
