Friday, April 21, 2006

Aviyal-North Kerala style

















No festival is complete without 'sadya' for Keralites.Sadya is a traditional way of eating rice with so many curries and side dishes,spicy,sweet and sour, laid out in a banana leaf and to be eaten with bare hand.'Arupathinalum koottiyoroonu'....is a popular saying about the grandeur of the Kerala Sadya, which means a Sadya with 64 curries!!Mind blowing,isn't it?!! I don't know how they would have prepared this grand curry mela!No 'sadya' is complete without Aviyal, a very healthy mixed vegetable curry which has won fans all over the world.According to one popular legend Aviyal was first prepared by 'Pakkanar' of the famous 'Parayipetta Panthirukulam' using all left over vegetables and it seems the dish became a hit! Here is that hit recipe.

Ingredients

Raw banana- 2 nos
Elephant yam - 1 cup
Carrots(big) - 2 nos
Drumstick - 2 nos
Potato - 1/2 cup
Snake Gourd - 1/2 cup
Kumbalanga - 1/2 cup
Beans - 3 nos
Green chillies - 4 nos or as reqd
Raw mango - 1 slice(optional)
Water - marginally higher to the level of vegetables in the pan,
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - As reqd

For grinding:-
Grated coconut - 2 cups
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Baby shallots - 8 nos(optional)
Curd - 1/2 cup

Method
Chop all the vegetables into 1/2 inch thick pieces.Cook vegetables with water, salt and turmeric powder.Meanwhile grind together coconut, cumin seeds, curry leaves, small onions and a little curd(as mango can be sour enough).Once the vegetables are cooked, add the ground paste. Cook, till the rawness of the coconut is gone. Do not cook for too long, as the whole curry will dry up.Then add oil (coconut oil if you want the authentic kerala flavour) and mix well.

4 comments:

FH said...

Hi Indo,there is North and South Kearal Avial too! Didn't know that.But then I have never been to Kerala!
I love the green color,will try your way,I love Avial taste.

? said...

The addition of onions and curry leaves in the avial 'paste' is very different from the Valluvanadan variety. Loved the Vadakkan recipes in your blog.

Jogesh Sachdev said...

I know I have eaten this on my Various visits to Kerala. It tastes Yummy. Never tried it at home (A Pujabi Home in Kolkata)
There is another form of Vegetable Curry cooked in Bengali homes known as 'Sukto' The Curry also has Milk,and contrasting vegetables such as Karela- sweetpotato, Raw banana-mooli, Carrots- Palak etc.

Knorr Soup said...

Indianadoc, this is a unique and tasty way to make use of all the leftover vegetables from the fridge! Not only does this dish combine a whole lot of vegetables, but it also looks stunning. Today, with more and more lifestyle related diseases like obesity and diabetes plaguing us Indians, this recipe is great to make at home, not to mention cater to our taste buds! For some expert tips on healthy eating habits check out our blog at http://knorratseven.blogspot.com/