Avial
If you have not read my post on “prawn curry “ being a pure vegetarian , you will not understand a Punjabis reverence for coconut oil . Besides the story there , there is another reason why I began to appreciate the contribution of coconut in enhancing the flavours of the vegetables.
We spent about an year in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and there the vegetables are shipped from the mainland , so not only are they expensive but also not so easy to get in plenty, and above all they are not as juicy and fresh because of the long journey they have done from the mainland to this island.
I used to eat fish back then so we did enjoy a lot of fish curries and fish pakoras and lobsters and all the stuff but there are times when even a pure non vegetarian craves for colourful and palatable veggies.
Somehow the vegetable preparations did not appeal to my pernickety nature and since my kids were small and naturally fussy eaters it was quite a challenge to make them eat anything at all.
It was then that I began the use of coconut as often as possible in most vegetable preparations whether they were dry or with a bit of a curry.
There is an excellent and simplest way to have raw papaya with coconut and it was a hit with my family.I would soon be putting it on the blog.
Luckily for me coconut was one thing which obviously was in abundance and I have yet to taste a sweeter and more delicious coconut than what you get in the Andamans. And there were these two trees right in front of our house and I got about a hundred something from them and I distributed them generously besides keeping lots for myself.
I still remember that I had a hand coconut grater and in one go I grated 17 coconuts and about seventy in three days. I froze them for future use and used them liberally in all recipes.
So that is my story behind my extensive use of coconuts and making South Indian dishes with the same . Lets get on with the recipe of Avial , which can be altered to whatever vegetables you like and skip the ones you dont as long as you use the vegetables which are firm like carrots , yam etc.
Ingredients:
1. One cup sliced thick and one inch long potatoes
2. One cup beans sliced long
3. One cup sliced carrots
4. One cup peas
5. Half a cup thick yogurt
6. Half a teaspoon turmeric powder
7. One teaspoon salt or to taste
8. One green chilli slit
9. Coconut oil
10. One cup grated coconut
11. A few curry leaves
12. Half a teaspoon cumin seeds
13. One green chilli or to taste
14. Half a cup of water
Method:
1. Place the chopped vegetables in a pot and add turmeric powder, the sliced green chilli and half a cup of water.
2. Cover and let cook on medium flame till completlety cooked , toss the vegetables in between so that they cook evenly.
3. Meanwhile place the coconut , cumin seeds and the green chilli with about four tablespoons of water and just give one blitz, do not over grind, the coconut is not to become a paste, the whole idea is to just give one quick mix to the ingredients.
4. When the vegetables are completetly done , add the coconut mixture, give one stir and turn the gas off.
5. Add the curd , another stir followed by the salt.
6. You could pour the coconut oil now or just before serving .
7. Tastes great just by itself with plain boiled rice or with accompaniments of your choice.
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