Avial is a fantastic South Indian curry made from mixed vegetables in a coconut gravy. The star of an Onam Sadya!
It is that time of the year again when there is only one thing on everyone’s mind – Onam Sadya. Some manage to go out to eat and some dare to cook it at home, but I am going to tell you the best solution for having a Sadya. Do a Sadya potluck, with each person cooking one or two dishes so that no one feels the strain but one manages to eat a home cooked Sadya! This avial has been my contribution to the Onam Sadya!
If you think this is the idea of my brilliant mind, you are wrong, since I have my friend Ruth to thank for this. She has been organizing an Onam potluck for a few years now and this time around, I was happy to be a part of it. 15 kickass dishes made in 5 or 6 homes, they all came together so beautifully to make a meal, that was delicious and fun!
I was given the task of making Avial and Dal Payasam and here I am sharing those recipes with you. So either on Onam day or in the coming weekend – Do a potluck and have a Sadya. Absolutely worth the effort!
This avial is my mother in law’s recipe with a slight twist. She typically makes it the Tamil style which is with a little more gravy. But every time I have eaten Avial in a Kerala home or sadya, it has been almost dry so while talking to her about the recipe, we figured that it all seemed similar minus the last step where she adds a rice flour + water mixture to give it a thick gravy. So I used her recipe, reduced a tiny bit of salt and skipped the last step. If you want the Tamil style, at the end of the recipe, add 2 tsp of rice flour mixed with 1/4 cup of water, a little salt and add it to the Avial. Bring to boil and turn off the heat.
Avial (mixed vegetables in coconut)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup yam chopped
- 1/2 cup Carrots chopped
- 1 cup potato chopped
- 1/2 cup banana Raw chopped
- 2 Drumsticks chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- to taste salt
For grinding to a paste
- 1 cup coconut fresh grated
- 3 - 4 green chillies
- 2 tsps jeera seeds (cumin)
For the tadka
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 2 chillies dry red
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom kadhai (or if you have use the kerala mud chatti), add all the vegetables along with just enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and reduce the flame. Cook till all the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Make sure you chop vegetables in the same size more or less.
- While the vegetables are cooking grind all the ingredients of the paste together. Namely coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds. Keep aside
- Once the vegetables are cooked, add the coconut paste to the vegetables and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
- In a small tadka pan, heat coconut oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal and red chillies. Roast for 1 minute till the urad dal starts to brown. Add curry leaves and fry further for 2 minutes till the leaves are crisp and the dal nicely browned.
- Pour on top of the avial and serve warm
Hi Monika! Really Amazing Recipe!