Avial - South Indian vegetable and coconut curry

 This is a South Indian curry that you can eat with rice or can eat as a side dish with Adai.

Ingredients

Vegetables- 3 cups total

I usually use:

Carrot - 1 large cut into small 2 inch strips

Potato- 1 large cut into small 2 inch strips

Green Beans - 15-20 beans cut into 1 inch strips

Other vegetables (optional)- pick 2 or 3 of these

Drumstick- 1 cut into 2 inch pieces ( this is a Indian vegetable - which once cooked you have to open it up to eat the pulp inside and throw out the outer shell)

small Indian eggplant ( black beauty eggplant) - cut into small pieces - 1

Pumpkin - cut in cubes - 1/2 cup

Snake gourd - cut into small pieces- 1/2 cup

Plantain - cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

Yam - cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Yogurt - 1/2 cup (whisk until smooth)

Salt to taste

To grind:

Coconut ( grated ) - 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2 to 3 ( de-seeded if you want it less spicy)

Garnish

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves - 4 to 5

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Instructions 

1. Take a large saucepan and add the carrot, beans, potato and drumstick to it and add water just until it covers the vegetables . Add turmeric powder and a teaspoon of salt and cook the vegetables until they are soft ( but not mushy). You can use a fork to poke the vegetables to see if it is cooked.
2. Some of the softer vegetables like pumpkin , snake gourd may need to be cooked separately since they get mushy pretty quickly
3. Drain excess water and keep the vegetables in the saucepan
   
   
   
4. While the vegetables are cooking grind the ingredients that are listed ' to grind' together into a smooth paste
5. Add the ground paste to the vegetables and fold in and mix well taking care not to mush the vegetables and cook for 3 to 4 minutes with a lid on the pot 
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   
6. Finally add the yogurt in and mix it with the vegetables and turn down the temperature to low and allow to cook for a minute or two
7. Turn off the stove
8. Now in a separate little pan add the coconut oil and heat it up and add the curry leaves and cumin seeds to it and sauté it just for a few seconds until the seeds pop slightly.
9. Take this oil and the curry leaves/cumin and pour into the cooked avial and mix. This garnish gives avial its wonderful aroma and taste 
   
   
   
10. Serve with rice as a curry or as a side dish with Adai.

• Tip: Mix the avial with rice and you can eat it with a side of potato poriyal ( spicy potato side dish) or chips or appalam (indian version of chips)