Avial
Kerala mixed vegetable curry with coconut, green chilli and yogurt. A sadya-staple where each vegetable keeps its identity in a fragrant white-green gravy.
Overview
A handful of vegetables (drumstick, ash gourd, carrot, runner beans, green plantain) are cut into uniform 5 cm batons and cooked separately to keep their textures. Coconut is ground with cumin, green chilli and shallot into a paste, which is added to the cooked vegetables with thinned yogurt. The dish is warmed gently (never simmered) so the yogurt doesn't split, and finished with raw coconut oil and curry leaves.
Ingredients
Vegetables (use a mix of 4-5; aim for 600 g total)
- 1 green plantain (small, peeled, cut into 5 cm batons)
- 1 carrot (cut into 5 cm batons)
- 100 g runner beans (cut into 5 cm pieces)
- 150 g ash gourd (cut into 5 cm batons)
- 2 drumsticks (if available; cut into 5 cm pieces, or substitute with green pepper)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 200 ml water
Coconut paste
- 100 g fresh grated coconut (or 80 g desiccated, rehydrated in 4 tablespoons of warm water)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2-3 green chillies (slit)
- 4 shallots (or 1 small onion)
To finish
- 200 g natural yogurt (loosened with 4 tablespoons of water)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (raw, not heated)
- 20 fresh curry leaves
- Salt to adjust
Method
Stage 1 - Cook the vegetables
- Place the harder vegetables (plantain, carrot, drumstick) in a wide pot with the turmeric, salt and water.
- Cover and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the runner beans and ash gourd.
- Cover and cook for another 5-6 minutes, until each vegetable is just tender but holds its shape.
- Drain any excess water (most should have cooked off, leaving 50-80 ml).
Stage 2 - Make the coconut paste
- Place the grated coconut, cumin seeds, green chilli and shallots in a small blender or pestle and mortar.
- Add 4 tablespoons of water.
- Grind to a coarse paste.
Stage 3 - Combine
- Add the coconut paste to the pot of vegetables.
- Stir gently to coat (be careful not to break the batons).
- Warm over low heat for 3-4 minutes (the paste should heat through but not bubble hard).
Stage 4 - Finish
- Whisk the yogurt with 4 tablespoons of water until smooth and pourable.
- Pull the pot off the heat.
- Pour the yogurt over the vegetables and stir gently to combine.
- Return to the lowest possible heat for 2 minutes to warm through (don't boil; yogurt splits over 90°C).
- Taste and adjust salt.
Stage 5 - Temper
- Pour the raw coconut oil over the avial.
- Scatter the curry leaves on top.
- Stir once to combine.
- Cover and rest for 5 minutes for the curry leaves to infuse.
Notes
- Uniform cuts: Avial is judged on the look. All vegetables in 5 cm batons of similar width gives a tidy, restaurant-style plate.
- Don't boil after the yogurt: This is the cardinal rule. Yogurt splits at high temperature; avial should warm through, not simmer.
- Raw coconut oil at the end: Not for cooking, just for the perfume. Pouring it over off the heat is the Kerala finish.
Storage
- Best eaten the day it's made.
- Refrigerate up to 2 days; the texture softens and the yogurt thins.
- Doesn't freeze.
More like this
Andhra Chicken Curry
Chicken thighs are marinated briefly with turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, yogurt and a pinch of red chilli. A dry-roast of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coconut, fennel, coriander and dried red chillies is ground with a splash of water into a coarse paste. The base is built with shallots, curry leaves and tomato; the chicken is browned in stages; and the masala paste is folded in for the long, gentle simmer. Tamarind and a curry-leaf temper finish.
Chicken Chettinad
Whole spices dry-toast in a pan until aromatic; grind with grated coconut, dried red chillies and a splash of water into a thick paste (the Chettinad masala). Chicken thighs marinate briefly in turmeric, salt and yogurt. Shallots fry to soft gold; the masala paste cooks until the oil splits out; chicken cooks in the masala with curry leaves and water. Finishes thick, dark and intensely peppery.
Chicken 65
Chicken thighs cube small; marinate for 1 hour in yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli, garam masala and cornflour. Deep-fried in two stages, first to cook through, second to crisp. While the chicken rests, a hot tempering of curry leaves, garlic, dried chillies, soy and vinegar sputters in a wok. The fried chicken tosses through the tempering for 30 seconds and goes straight to the plate.
Bombay Potatoes
Bombay Potatoes is comfort food at its finest. Small potatoes are partially cooked, then coated in a richly spiced oil infused with seeds and aromatics. Some potatoes are mashed to create a creamy base, while others remain whole for texture. The result is a warm, golden, deeply spiced side dish that's utterly satisfying. This is a vegetarian staple of Indian home cooking.