Aviyal

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Ingredients

• 1 or 2 green chilies
• one teaspoon cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• raw coconut or coconut powder (½ cup)
• salt to taste (one teaspoon)
• 3 Tablespoons yogurt or 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or 1/3 cup diced raw mango
• fresh curry leaves or pre-soaked dry curry leaves
• 5 cups mixed vegetables (kumbalanga, kathirikka, padavallanga or padaval, muringakka, raw plantain, carrots (1 or 2 only, else it becomes too sweet), japanese or any variety long eggplant, long beans or french beans, cucumber, potatoes, zucchini other kinds of squash, and canned drumsticks.

Preparation

If using plantain or raw banana, cut into long strips ( 2 inches x half inch x .25 inches approx.) and mix with some yogurt (2 tablespoons) and keep aside for 10 minutes. Rinse well before boiling. If using canned drumsticks, add only at the very end. Also reduce the salt you add.

Boil the veggies with water (say ½ cup), salt and turmeric powder. When boiling add very little water if the veggies you add are rich in water (cucumber, cumbalanga etc.) Add the sliced green chilies to the boiling vegetables if you don't like it too hot. Else blend it with the coconut. Add the veggies that take longer to cook like plantain first, then beans etc. Meanwhile, blend the coconut to a smooth or semi-smooth paste with the green chilies or half the green chilies, and cumin. When the veggies are almost cooked, add this blended paste and curry leaves cook for a few minutes. Finally add the yogurt/lime juice/raw mango and mix it in. You can season with mustard seeds if you wish but I prefer not to add any more oil (the coconut has enough of it).

Serve the above with rice, pappadums and plantain chips.

Aviyal (Alternate)

• 1 c. grated coconut
• ¼ tsp. Turmeric
• ¼ tsp. red chile powder
• salt
• mustard seeds
• oil
• 3 or 4 Tbs. Yogurt
• ¼ c. water
• 2 or 3 Tomato, cut into long pieces
• 1 medium Onion, cut it into long slices
• 2 to 4 Green chile, according to how hot you want; cut it long
• curry leaves
• 1 or 2 Potato or Carrot
• 2 or 3 cucumber
• 1 zucchini squash
• 1 chokko squash
• ½ raw (green) banana
• 10 or 12 green beans (or long green beans)

Cut all veggies into long pieces, 1 inch long, and 0.5 cm thick.

Note: You can avoid either or both squash if you like to; also banana if it is too gluggy. But you need all the others. You can add chena, padavalam, muringakkaya, etc. if you can get them. Cut them all in the same way (except muringakkaya, cut it into 1.5" long pieces and split into half), same length and thickness as others.

Put them in a pot in layers, beans and carrot at the bottom, then chokko, then banana, then potato, then zuchini, then add the onion slices, cut green chilees and curry leaves, then put the coconut, turmeric and chile powder (spread it on the top, all three), then put tomato slices, and then cucumber on the top.

Then pour water, cover with a lid and cook in low-medium flame. When it is cooked, add salt, and then stir well, careful not to break the vegetable pieces. If there is plenty water, keep it for a while to be dried up. Heat the oil, add mustard seeds, and curry leaves, add it to the above mix. Then add the yogurt and stir well, adding enough salt of your taste. Serve and enjoy!

Note: After adding the yogurt, don't heat it up, as it will get watery then. So if you want to put some in the refrigerator for the next day, take it first and add yogurt to the rest. You can add yogurt to the other when you are going to have it, after warming it up first. Hope you enjoy.