Aviyal is one of those dishes which makes you feel good because it is a combination of taste and health. It is loaded with veggies which are cooked to perfection in organic coconut oil.
This recipe has a fair amount of pumpkin along with other nutritious veggies which are cooked to perfection with some mild spices. A generous amount of tempered curry leaves with mustard seeds, simply exalts this south side dish. With a bunch of readily available ingredients from your pantry, you can make this super healthy recipe from South India in just half an hour !
I personally love recipes which can be tweaked, it gives you a thrill of experimenting in the kitchen. Every time Avial is made with a few changes / additions, it leave us pleasantly surprised.
Sometimes it can boring to try the same dish over and over again, so tweaking helps.
Aviyal or avial is a popular dish of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is one of those traditional dishes of South India without which no feast is complete. It is considered as an important part of Sadya or Sadhya. Sadhya is a feast served on banana leaf, in which you will only find vegetarian dishes, like rasam, boiled rice, curd, payasam, papads, pickles etc.
The preparation of this side dish recipe varies from region to region and may have a little different taste as well. In Kerala lots of freshly grated coconut will be used, in Tamilnadu curd/ yoghurt is added. In some regions of South India, people use mango and tamarind as well instead of yogurt.
It is a lip-smacking dish, a good melange of spices and veggies. Aviyal is traditionally served with plain rice and sambhar.
So don’t wait do prepare this dish with your lovely vegetarian spread.
Pumpkin Avial
Ingredients :
- 2 drumsticks cut into 2”inch pieces
- ½ cup pumpkin
- ½ cup carrot
- ½ cup green unripe bananas
- ½ cup yam (chopped into cubes)
- 3 cup water
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 4 green chillies
- ½ cup beaten curd
- salt as required
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 cup coconut
- ¼ tsp cumin seeds
- 3-4 black pepper corns
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 10 curry leaves
Method :
- Prepare the masala paste
- In a grinding jar and add red chilli powder, coconut and green chillies. Also, add cumin seeds, black peppercorns and 4-5 tbsp water. Grind together till it becomes a smooth paste you can adjust the water if the mixture is too thick.
- Now heat a shallow pan, add 2 cups water in the pan and bring to a boil.
- Then add sliced vegetables in water and add turmeric powder. Sprinkle some salt and mix the ingredients well.
- Once, the vegetables are t slightly tender, add the previously made paste and mix it well with vegetables. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for another minute, till the vegetables completely absorb the coconut masala paste.
- Then add the curd and toss the vegetables well. Cook for another minute to incorporate the ingredients well.
- Garnish with coconut oil and curry leaves. Serve immediately.
Cooking tips :
- One of the key points to note is that the vegetables should neither be mushy nor uncooked.
- After chopping the raw bananas submerge them in water so that they do not darken.
- Try to use fresh curd for making the best Aviyal.
- The combination of vegetables can be according to your preference.
Interesting fact : Aviyal was invented by Bhima, one out of the five pandavas.
