Avial

Here's one more of those dishes I've developed a taste for over the years. In other words, I hated this stuff initially. Now, I look forward to the rare occasions when I get to eat this stuff.

Part of many traditional feasts, I simply love eating this during the Padinettam Perukku and Pongal festivals when Kalanda Saadam (Mixed Rice - Puliyodarai, Coconut Rice, Lemon Rice etc) is part of the menu. My favourite way to eat avial is with Coconut Rice. (Yeah, I am a Mangalorean all right! I can manage overdoses of coconut.) Usually, however, we eat this with rice a yelai paruppu (plain dal).

I made this for the first time last week and was thrilled with the results.

2 cups Mixed Boiled Vegetables (I used Carrot, Beans, Ash Gourd, Raw Banana, Peas, Potatoes)

1/4 cup Coconut, scraped

1 cup Curd, beaten

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

3 Green Chillies, slit

1 tsp Oil

Salt to taste

For the seasoning:

1 tsp Coconut Oil

7-8 Curry Leaves

Heat the oil in a small frying pan and add the cumin seeds along with the green chillies. When the cumin seeds crackle, turn off the flame and add the coconut. Grind this mixture to a paste.

Take the beaten curd in a vessel and add the mixed vegetables along with the paste. Add the salt and bring to a boil while stirring constantly.

Heat the coconut oil in a frying ladle and add the curry leaves. Add this to the avial.

The way we relished it was with some rice and yelai paruppu (plain dal). I also made some rasam and some raw banana curry. With curd and papad, it was a complete meal.