Avial
Mixed vegetables cut into batons, barely steamed, then bound with coarse coconut and sour curd. Raw coconut oil goes in at the end.
- Prep
- 25m
- Cook
- 25m
- Total
- 50m
- Serves
- 6
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 250 g | Cut everything into batons of the same length 15m 5cm long, finger-thick. Uniform size is what lets them finish together. | Steam the vegetables with turmeric in a splash of water until they just yield 18m Toss by shaking the pan rather than stirring. A spoon breaks the batons. | Off the heat, fold in the coconut paste and curd, then pour over raw coconut oil and bruised curry leaves 4m The pan must be off the heat. Curd added to a boiling pot splits into curds and whey. | |
| 1 | ||||
| 200 g | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 100 g | ||||
| 150 g | ||||
| 1/2 cup | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 1 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 1 1/2 cups | Grind the coconut coarse, with just enough water to move the blades 5m Coarse. Avial should have texture, not a smooth sauce. | |||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 3/4 cup | ||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||
| 15 | ||||
-
Cut everything into batons of the same length
15m- ash gourd 250 g
- raw plantain 1
- elephant yam 200 g
- carrot 2
- drumstick (optional) 1
- French beans 100 g
- snake gourd (optional) 150 g
5cm long, finger-thick. Uniform size is what lets them finish together.
-
Steam the vegetables with turmeric in a splash of water until they just yield
18m- from 1 Cut everything into batons of the same length
- water 1/2 cup
- ground turmeric 1/2 tsp
- green chillies 3
- salt 1 1/2 tsp
Toss by shaking the pan rather than stirring. A spoon breaks the batons.
-
Grind the coconut coarse, with just enough water to move the blades
5m- fresh coconut 1 1/2 cups
- cumin seeds 1 tsp
- green chillies 2
- shallot (optional) 1
Coarse. Avial should have texture, not a smooth sauce.
-
Off the heat, fold in the coconut paste and curd, then pour over raw coconut oil and bruised curry leaves
4m- from 2 Steam the vegetables with turmeric in a splash of water until they just yield
- from 3 Grind the coconut coarse, with just enough water to move the blades
- thick yoghurt 3/4 cup
- coconut oil 2 tbsp
- curry leaves 15
The pan must be off the heat. Curd added to a boiling pot splits into curds and whey.
Why the coconut oil is never heated
Coconut oil carries a set of volatile lactones that give it that sweet, almost milky smell, and they boil off fast. Cook it and you get fat; stir it into a warm pan at the end and you get perfume. The same logic applies to the curd, which is there for acidity and body — heat it above about 85°C and the casein coagulates, turning a glossy bind into a grainy one. Both go in with the flame already out.
Notes
- Layer the vegetables by cooking time if you like, hardest at the bottom, but even batons matter more than the order.
- Sour curd is not a defect here. If yours is fresh, leave it out of the fridge for a few hours first.
- Avial is better an hour after making, and does not reheat well. Warm it gently or eat it at room temperature.