Around two years ago, one of my friends gave me a tiny seedling which eventually grew into a type of green brinjal that are only found in South Asian countries. I love the way this plant protect its produce by hiding them under dense leaves, and the super sharp thorns are well equipped to fight away any intruders. Impressive!
There are two reasons for posting this aviyal recipe this week. First, brinjals, even the green ones, may not be appealing to everyone. So I just wanted to hide them with other veggies, and aviyal is the perfect way to do it.
Second, it’s Meat free Week. Over the past few days, I managed to dish out a few vegetarian meals for my family. On Monday, I made Mushroom pulao and served it with raita. Then on Tuesday, I rolled out some chapathis to go with my all time favorite Dal palak (Lentil and spinach curry). And yesterday, we had a hearty vegetarian feast with a simple dal curry, aviyal, stirfried adjuki beans (dried red beans), beans and carrot stir fry, yogurt, pappadam, and raw mango pickle.
More Kerala Veg Recipes:
- Sambar | Lentil and Mixed Veggies Curry
- Varutharacha Sambar | Fried Coconut Sambar
- Kerala Vegetable Stew
- Olan | Ash Gourd in Coconut Milk
- Puli Inji | Sweet and Sour Ginger Pickle
- Kalan | Raw bananas & Yam in Tangy Yogurt Sauce
- Yogurt and Coconut Curry (Pulissery)
Ingredients
- 1 small piece of pumpkin
- 2 brinjals
- 2 big carrots
- 1 medium onion
- 2 small potatoes
- 15 - 20 green beans
- 1 big cucumber
- 11 frozen drumsticks Use fresh drumsticks if available
- 2 sprigs of curry leaves
- 1 and ¼ cups grated coconut
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- 3 - 4 green chillies
- 1 small lemon sized tamarind
- 2 - 3 tablespoon coconut oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut all the vegetables lengthwise. Make sure they are more or less the same size. Set aside.
- Place sliced brinjals in a deep bowl, and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt. Set aside for 20-30 minutes.
- Soak tamarind in ¼ cup water. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile coarsely grind grated coconut, cumin seeds, garlic paste, and green chillies. Set aside.
- Place all the veggies and curry leaves in a heavy bottomed deep pan. Squeeze out excess water from the brinjals before adding it to the pan. Add enough water just to cook the veggies (I used around 1 ½ cups of water). At this stage, you can also add the tamarind water (Discard the solid bits).
- Mix in ground turmeric, and salt. Now place the pan over medium to high heat, and cook.
- When the vegetables are half cooked, add the coconut paste to the pan. Mix well. Add more water if needed. Cover with a lid, and let it simmer until the vegetables are done.
- Remove it from flame, and drizzle coconut oil over the veggies. Mix well. Aviyal is ready to serve.
Aruna Panangipally says
Your recipe for avial is quite different from what I am used to eating. It has tamarind and garlic. I cannot wait to try this amazing variant. 🙂
One of the many pleasures of blogging….. You can find new ways of making traditional dishes.
Nish Kitchen says
Looks like every cuisine has a different version of the same dish. Quite interesting! And don't forget to let me know how it turns out! Next time I'm going to try the one in your blog.
Shatarupa @Calorielicious says
I simply love aviyal! Yumm!!!
Aneela Mirchandani says
Love it!
MyKabulKitchen says
After a long winter of heavy foods, I am craving vegetable dishes this looks great as you can substitute whatever is available and I love the use of coconut 🙂