We love dishes that are creamy and rich with coconut at home. After all I am from Kongunad. My father in law has a coconut farm. Lot of my relatives have coconut farm. Many people in this region have a coconut farm as the belt from Pollachi to Udumalpet is known for its coconut farming. So there is this thing that people make fun about whenever there is a function / party at home in the farm. “உங்களுக்கென்ன நாயக்கரே, தோட்டத்துல தொப்புனு சத்தம் கேட்டுச்சுன்னா காசு. தொப்புனு விழுந்தா காசு, குடுத்து வெச்சவுரு சாமி நீங்க” – You are blessed sir. If you hear a thud sound in the farm, its money. If something falls in the farm, its money. You are blessed. “Every coconut that falls is money!”. Sadly, we lost half of our farm due to extreme drought a couple of years ago. We could save only half of the trees. This is the case with many farms in the region. A lot of them lost their trees that are 50-60 years old. This year has been better and hope the new trees survive! Back to the recipe. This avial does not have curd that is traditionally added in most parts of South India. The sourness comes from the raw mango. Here is the recipe for our style of avial.
Prep Work Fresh Shredded coconut is very essential for this recipe. It creates a rich texture that dried or desiccated coconut will not produce.
Grind the coconut, green chillies and cumin with half a cup of water to a smooth paste. Set aside.
Next is the veggies. Purists would say only country veggies need to be used for avial. But really, use whatever veggies you can find in your fridge. It works well. Cut the veggies into fingers – 1.5 inches long. I used carrots, beans, potatoes, drumstick, raw mango and raw banana and cucumber. I peeled the skin of all the veggies. The raw mango gives a slight sourness to the dish. Take a bowl add in the veggies. Add in the salt and turmeric. Mix well to coat the veggies evenly.
I like to cook the veggies in a pressure cooker using pot in pot method. The veggies stays intact. Add half a cup of water to the pressure cooker. Place the bowl of veggies inside the cooker. Cook for 3 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to release naturally. The veggies cooked for 3 whistles are firm. If you want a soft veggie, then cook for 4 whistles. We need to cook for 3 or 4 whistles as the size of the cut veggies is big and we are using the pot in pot method. If, after opening, you feel the veggie is al-dente or not to your liking, then cook for another whistle more. Set aside.
Tempering Take a pan and add in coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add in the steamed veggies and saute for a minute so the oil coats evenly.
Add in the coconut paste and toss well to coat. Cook for a minute. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice.
I love to serve avial with kerala matta rice.
For Coconut Paste
- 1/3 Cup Fresh Shredded Coconut
- 2 Green Chillies
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
For Steaming Veggies
- 3 Cups Mixed Veggies
- (I used carrots, beans, potatoes, raw mango, drum stick, raw banana, cucumber and potatoes)
- 1/2 Teaspoon turmeric
- 1 Teaspoon salt
For Tempering
- 1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 2 Green Chillies, Slit
- 2 Sprigs Curry Leaves
- Grind the coconut, green chillies and cumin with half a cup of water to a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Take a bowl add in the veggies. Add in the salt and turmeric. Mix well to coat the veggies evenly.
- Add half a cup of water to the pressure cooker. Place the bowl of veggies inside the cooker. Cook for 3 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to release naturally. The veggies cooked for 3 whistles are firm. If you want a soft veggie, then cook for 4 whistles.
- Take a pan and add in coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add in the steamed veggies and saute for a minute so the oil coats evenly.
- Add in the coconut paste and toss well to coat. Cook for a minute. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice. I love to serve avial with kerala matta rice.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: South Indian
For Coconut Paste
- 1/3 Cup Fresh Shredded Coconut
- 2 Green Chillies
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
For Steaming Veggies
- 3 Cups Mixed Veggies
- (I used carrots, beans, potatoes, raw mango, drum stick, raw banana, cucumber and potatoes)
- 1/2 Teaspoon turmeric
- 1 Teaspoon salt
For Tempering
- 1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 2 Green Chillies, Slit
- 2 Sprigs Curry Leaves
- Grind the coconut, green chillies and cumin with half a cup of water to a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Take a bowl add in the veggies. Add in the salt and turmeric. Mix well to coat the veggies evenly.
- Add half a cup of water to the pressure cooker. Place the bowl of veggies inside the cooker. Cook for 3 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to release naturally. The veggies cooked for 3 whistles are firm. If you want a soft veggie, then cook for 4 whistles.
- Take a pan and add in coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add in the steamed veggies and saute for a minute so the oil coats evenly.
- Add in the coconut paste and toss well to coat. Cook for a minute. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice. I love to serve avial with kerala matta rice.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: South Indian
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/avial-recipe-aviyal-tamil/
This recipe is an “everything but the kitchen sink” kind of a potato masala. It has a lot of ingredients going on in this recipe. Its a very flavorful side dish and it goes well with roti or rice. Here is how to do it.
I have a small tip for easily peel-able potatoes. Starting the potatoes in hot water instead of cold water makes for easy peel potatoes. Boil a liter of water. Add in a teaspoon of salt. The potatoes gets well seasoned if it is cooked with salt.
Add in the cleaned and washed baby potatoes to the pressure cooker. Cook for 2 whistles in medium flame. It should take about 7-8 minutes. Do not cook for more than 2 whistles as we need firm potatoes. Switch off the flame and wait for the pressure to release naturally.
Open the cooker and drain the water. Add cold water to the potatoes so they are easy to peel. Peel the potatoes. Set aside.
We will also need finely chopped onions, curry leaves and mint leaves.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the cardamom and cloves. Add in the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to brown, add in the onions and the finely chopped curry leaves and mint leaves. Add in slit green chillies.
Saute till the mixture is well browned and reduced considerably in volume. The onions should caramelize well and should have reduced to almost half of its original volume.
Make a paste of tomatoes, garlic and ginger.
Add in the tomato mixture. Add in the salt, coriander powder, chilli powder, pepper and turmeric powder. Saute till the mixture is completely dry.
Add in the milk and simmer for a minute.
Add in a teaspoon of sugar and the boiled potatoes. Add in the finely chopped coriander leaves. Switch off the heat.
Serve hot with Roti or Rice.
For Boiling Potatoes
- 1 liter water
- 1 kg baby potatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
Other Ingredients
- 4 teaspoon vegetable / sunflower oil
- 2 cardamom
- 2 cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 sprigs curry leaves, finely chopped
- 6 sprigs mint leaves, finely chopped
- 3 green chillies, slit
- 3 medium sized onions, finely chopped
- 3 tomatoes
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 2 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 cup milk (cows milk)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped
- Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker with water and salt for 2 whistles. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the cardamom and cloves. Add in the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to brown, add in the onions and the finely chopped curry leaves and mint leaves. Add in slit green chillies.
- Saute till the mixture is well browned and reduced considerably in volume. The onions should caramelize well and should have reduced to almost half of its original volume.
- Make a paste of tomatoes, garlic and ginger. Add in the tomato mixture. Add in the salt, coriander powder, chilli powder, pepper and turmeric powder. Saute till the mixture is completely dry.
- Add in the milk and simmer for a minute.
- Add in a teaspoon of sugar and the boiled potatoes. Add in the finely chopped coriander leaves. Switch off the heat.
- Serve hot with Roti or Rice.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Side Dish - Gravy
- Cuisine: Indian
