Avial

Avial, a simple coconut and yogurt based dished of cooked vegetables. A dish described so conjures an image of something bland. Don’t let the simplicity of the dish fool you though! Every single ingredient of the dish contributes and enhances its flavor. The cooked starchy vegetables that hold their shape, the coconut paste with cumin seeds, chillis, curry leaves and may be garlic pods and finally the yogurt. All of them combine to form a great-tasting, cooling and filling dish.

I tasted this for the first time at a restaurant many years ago. I distinctly remember the second time I had it too, it made such a mark on me. It was a family friend’s place in Chennai. The difference being it was made sattvik style, with no garlic. It tasted different from what I had at the restaurant and equally heavenly!

There are quite a few variants of this dish. One in majjiga pulusu, which is spicier because of ginger root and does not have coconut. Another is kadhi which I first tasted when studying in the northern part of India. Of late though, I have been making Avial at home pretty often.

To prep this dish, one would require some starchy veggies that are likely to retain their shape in the cooking process – like potatoes, plantains, colocasia and elephant foot yam. Carrots, green beans, long beans, bottle gourd, snake gourd, drumsticks and mango also may be added. One thing to keep in mind is to cut all of them about 3-4 inches in length and about 0.5-0.75 inch in width.

The veggies are cooked according to their cooking times. Once cooked, the cumin, chilli, curry leaf and coconut paste is added to the veggies and simmered for a short while. Followed by yogurt. Temper it with some coconut oil, cumin seeds, split urad dal and mustard seeds and done! This goes great with rice and roti alike, in my humble opinion.

Ingredients

3 cups of mixed veggies – drumsticks, potatoes, plantain, yams, pumpkin, carrots, bottle gourd, snake gourd, beans or mango – cut about 3-4 inches in length and less than an inch in thickness

Turmeric – 1/4 tsp

Black pepper powder – 1/4 tsp

Water – 1.5 cups and more as required

Salt – per taste

Coconut – 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Chillis – 3 (I used thai chillis, super hot!) or as per taste

Curry leaf – from 2 stalks

Garlic – 2 cloves, optional

Yogurt – 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Tempering

Coconut oil – 1 tbsp

Split urad dal – 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Hing – a couple of fat pinches

Recipe

Firstly, wash and cut the veggies as per desired size. For plantains, leave the cut pieces in a bowl of water so they do not oxidize.
Add the water to a kadhai/vessel and add in the veggies that would take longest to cook. Potatoes, beans, carrots, drumsticks would go first.
Add the turmeric, black pepper powder and half the salt to the veggies. Black pepper enhances the absorption of curcumin, the main active ingredient in turmeric.
Cook these veggies half-way through on low-medium heat.
Then add in the rest of the veggies, salt as per taste and cook them through.
If all water evaporates, add a couple of tablespoons at a time to cook the veggies

While the veggies cook, make a paste of the coconut, cumin seeds, chillis, curry leaves and optional cloves of garlic

Whisk the yogurt and have it ready
Once the veggies have cooked through, add the coconut mix to the veggies

Simmer on low heat for another 5-8 minutes.
Adjust for salt now as needed.
Turn off heat and let this cool down
Prepare tempering by heating up coconut oil and add in tempering ingredients listed above