Aviyal

 Aviyal / Mixed Vegetables in Coconut - Yogurt Sauce
                                                                         

Aviyal is a thick mixture of vegetables, coconut and coconut oil 😋. It is considered as an essential side dish in Kerala sadya/ feast. It is a mainly a South Indian dish, originated from Kerala. It is pretty easy to prepare this 😃. As I said it is a delightful mix of all vegetables 😃. You can use almost all veggies to prepare this. The mainly used vegetables are carrot, beans, drumsticks, raw plantain, yam, white pumpkin, cucumber, broad beans and snake gourd. You cut these veggies and mix it with coconut paste and yogurt. Only the cutting part consumes time 😤, you can finish the recipe in a few minutes 👍. Apart from sadhya I usually prepare during this during the weekend when you have all veggies left in the refrigerator but it’s not that enough to prepare one single dish in bulk.  This is also very healthy as you have all possible vegetables 💪. A sadya/ feast can’t be served without this healthy- tasty side dish 👌. You can serve this a side dish for rice and chapatti / roti 😉. Okay then let’s get started.

 Preparation time: 25 min

Cooking time: 15-20 min

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients

Carrot: 1 cup

String beans: ½ cup

Cluster beans / Kothavaranga: ¼ cup

Snake gourd/ Padavalanga: ½ cup

Drum stick/Muringakka: 1

Cucumber/Vellarikaa: 1 cup

Ash gourd/Kumbalanga: 1 cup

Raw plantain/ Pachakaya: 1

Yam/Chena: ½ cup  (I used frozen ones )

Water: ¼ - ½ cup

Curd: 1/3 cup (beaten)

Turmeric powder: ¼ + ½ tsp

Salt: as needed

To grind

Coconut: 1 ¼ cup

Green chili: 5-6 (according to your taste)

Cumin seeds: ¾ tsp

For seasoning

Coconut oil: 1 ½ tbsp

Curry leaves: 1 spring

Method

1.       Wash the vegetables well with clean water and drain.

2.       Take a bowl of water add ¼ tsp of water and set aside.

3.       Grind the ingredients mentioned to grind to a coarse paste adding little water. Take care not to grind  fine.

                                                       

     

4.       Peel and chop the vegetables as shown.  It shouldn’t be too thick.

                                                                 

5.       Throw in the chopped plantain pieces to the bowl of water kept aside.

 

6.       Layer the veggies one above the other in a wide / big pan.

                                                                       

7.       Layer the veggies according to its cooking time. Place yam, plantain at the bottom layer. Followed by drumsticks, string beans, cluster beans, snake gourd. Then at last add carrot, ash gourd and cucumber.

8.       Cook these veggies by adding ¼ cup of water and turmeric powder in medium flame.

                                                                          

9.       Check if it is half cooked, if not add 2tbsp of water. Repeat this until all veggies are half cooked.

10.   Add salt and mix it. Mix gently take care not to mash the veggies.

11.   When the veggies are half cooked and add the coarse paste, mix it. Cover and cook it low medium heat for 5-7min.

                                                                    

12.   When the vegetables are almost coked simmer the flame to low add beaten curd. Cook in low heat till the veggies are fully cooked. Take care not to curdle the curd.

                                                                       

13.   When the veggies are cooked add curry leaves and smear oil on top. Switch off the flame.

                                                                     

14.   Cover and set aside for 5 min.

                                                                         

15.   Mix and serve with rice or roti.

                                                                       

16.   Enjoy.

                                                                       

Notes

1.       You can use tamarind or raw mango instead of curd.  Add pieces of 1 raw mango or tamarind water of 1 golf ball sized tamarind pulp to the above mentioned quantity of vegetables.

2.       Add salt and water as mentioned. Adding salt in the beginning prevents some veggies from getting cooked. Vegetables ooze out water while getting coked so no need to add much water.If you want a thin consistency go ahead and add water. Aviyal is usually served thick.

3.       Use a little of each vegetable as you may end up in bulk when you cut them all.

4.       Don’t overcook the veggies.

5.       While mixing the veggies with coconut paste take care not to mash the vegetables.

6.       Use sour curd for a better flavor, to make yogurt sour leave it in room temperature for a day .

7.       It is a must to use coconut oil.