Kerala Style Avial Recipe
Kerala Style Avial or Sadya Aviyal is a traditional mixed vegetable curry that is one of the important dishes in Kerala Sadya. It makes use of many seasonal root vegetables and is healthy and flavorful.
Traditional Avial is a tasty and nutritional dish made with seasonal vegetables like snake gourd, yellow cucumber, taro or colocasia, elephant yam, carrot, beans, and drumsticks. We can also add potato, pumpkin, and ivy gourd as well.
Though Avial is popular in Kerala, it is also prepared in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as well with variations in taste and style. Today we will be making authentic Malabar Avial.
Aviyal is not served only for Sadya but is a favorite side dish for everyday lunch in Kerala households.
The Origin of Avial Recipe
Avial is supposed to be invented by Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers in Mahabharata. While they were in their 14-year exile, Bhima assumed the role of a cook of King Virata. Sadly though, he didn’t know how to cook. So, he randomly grabbed some vegetables, chopped and boiled them together, made a dish, and topped it with grated coconut. Easy-peasy, don’t you think?
Avial Ingredients | Avial Vegetables List in Malayalam
Kerala Avial Curry is not made with the usual vegetables like peas or cauliflower. Avial is made with some of the best seasonal vegetables available plentiful in South India.
Avial Vegetables:
- 1/8 cup Elephant Yam (ചേന)
- 1/8 cup Taro Root or Colocasia (ചേമ്പ്)
- 10-12 Shallots (ചെറിയ ഉള്ളി)
- 1/8 cup Snake Gourd (പടവലങ്ങാ)
- 1/8 cup Yellow Cucumber (വെള്ളരിക്ക)
- 1 small Raw Plantain or Raw Green Banana (ഏത്തക്കായ)
- 1 small Carrot (കാരറ്റ്)
- 4-5 Beans (ബീൻസ്)
- 2 Drumsticks (മുരിങ്ങക്കായ)
You can also add pumpkin (മത്തങ്ങ), Aubergine or Brinjal (വഴുതനങ്ങ), Ivy gourd (കോവക്ക), and Potato (ഉരുളക്കിഴങ്ങ്).
Other Aviyal Ingredients:
- We also use a souring agent like Tamarind (പുളി) or Curd.
- Grated Coconut
- Cumin (ജീരകം)
- Turmeric powder
- Red Chili powder
- Coconut oil
- Green Chilies
- Curry leaves
Avial Vegetable Cutting
All the vegetables for Avial are chopped lengthwise, like long finger chips. They aren’t sliced thinly but moderately thick, about 2″ (inches) long, in almost equal sizes. This is one of the important features of Aviyal curry.
Cooking Vegetables for Avial
The vegetables used for making Avial have different cooking times. One should always remember to cook the vegetables separately and accordingly. If not, the Avial becomes mushy and the veggies will become a gummy mashed mess.
Elephant yam needs more time to cook. So, it is usually cooked separately until 3/4th done and added later to the other vegetables.
Similarly, taro is added later since it doesn’t take a lot of time to cook it.
There are different varieties of Avial and each region has a unique way of preparing this dish. I am sharing one of the easiest ways of making Avial. Further, you can also make Avial in pressure cooker. Here, all the vegetables are added to the pressure cooker with just enough water and cooked for one whistle. The ground coconut and spices are added later.
The one major concern or disadvantage of cooking Aviyal in pressure cooker is that the vegetables can be overcooked. So, cook in high flame for only a whistle.
Types of Avial
Mutta Aviyal
Mutta Avial or Egg Avial is a popular Avial variation that we prepare in Kerala households. In this variation, we add boiled eggs that are chopped lengthwise along with potatoes.
Cheera Aviyal
Cheera Avial is another popular Kerala-style Avial recipe where Red Amaranth (both leaves and stems) along with raw mango makes up for the main ingredients.
Chicken Aviyal
Shredded, ground, or cubed chicken is cooked with a handful of vegetables to make a delicious Avial.
Tamil Nadu Style Avial
Tamil Brahmin Avial is one of the tastiest varieties of Aviyal. It makes use of slightly sour beaten curd as the souring agent. It is also slightly loose in texture making it a gravy.
Karnataka Style Avial
Avial in Udupi or Mangalore style is even looser or curry-like with the addition of coconut milk. Or else, water is added while grinding coconut making it Avial curry.
Kerala Style Avial Recipe
Here’s a simple Avial recipe for you to try this Onam and always:
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Avial
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 persons 1x
Description
Kerala Style Avial or Sadya Aviyal is a traditional mixed vegetable curry that is one of the important dishes in Kerala Sadya.
Ingredients
- 1/8 cup Elephant Yam (ചേന)
- 10–12 Shallots (ചെറിയ ഉള്ളി)
- 1/8 cup Taro Root or Colocasia (ചേമ്പ്)
- 1/8 cup Snake Gourd (പടവലങ്ങാ)
- 1/8 cup Yellow Cucumber (വെള്ളരിക്ക)
- 1 small Raw Plantain or Raw Green Banana (ഏത്തക്കായ)
- 1 small Carrot (കാരറ്റ്)
- 4–5 Beans (ബീൻസ്)
- 2 Drumsticks (മുരിങ്ങക്കായ)
- Tamarind (പുളി) or Curd.
- 1 cup Grated Coconut
- 1 tsp Cumin (ജീരകം)
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Red Chili powder
- 3+ 1 tbsp Coconut oil
- 3–4 Green Chilies
- Curry leaves
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- To make Kerala Style Avial, first, wash and clean prep the vegetables. Chop the veggies lengthwise approximately 2 inches long. Do not peel the drumsticks. Instead, scrape and discard the outer skin.
- Make half-slit on the beans and on drumsticks if they are on the thick side. Slice the shallots.
- Coarsely grind grated coconut, cumin, green chilies, and curry leaves in a mixer-blender. Do not add water. Keep aside.
- Soak Tamarind in hot water and keep aside.
- Since each veggie has different cooking times, let’s start by cooking them separately. In a bowl, pour a cup of water. Add yam and season with salt, a pinch of turmeric powder, and a few springs of curry leaves. Cook until 3/4th done and keep aside.
- Meanwhile, heat a wide pan/kadhai/clap pot and add 3 tablespoons of coconut oil.
- Add sliced shallots and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add all the veggies except taro and the cooked yam. Combine well and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add about 3/4th cup of water. Cover and cook until half-done.
- Add taro and mix well. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes more.
- Add the cooked yam, turmeric powder, red chili powder, and season with salt. Combine gently.
- Pulp the tamarind and add it to the vegetables.
- Add the coarsely ground coconut mixture. Cover and cook for a few minutes.
- Mix gently and add a tablespoon of coconut oil to finish off.
- Serve hot with steamed rice and accompaniments.
- Category: Side
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Kerala
Keywords: kerala style avial recipe, avial vegetable cutting, sadya aviyal recipe, simple avial recipe, best avial recipe, avial ingredients
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Recipe FAQs
Store the leftover Avial in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can reheat and use it the next day and not any later.
Variations:
You can make Mutta Aviyal or Egg Aviyal by adding boiled eggs and potatoes as the main ingredients. Other variations include Cheera Avial by adding Red Amaranth leaves and stems, Chicken Avial by adding cubed, shredded, or ground chicken with coarsely ground coconut, and Tamil Nadu Brahmin Avial by making the Avial loose like a curry.
Substitutes:
Skip any vegetable that is not available.
Instead of Tamarind, we can also add slightly soar curd. If you are adding curd, add about 1 cup of beaten curd and only at last after removing from heat. Then add coconut oil and mix gently.
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