Aviyal is traditional kerala dish with mixed vegetable medely without any seasoning.Lightly spiced.
What is Aviyal ?
Aviyal is one of the traditional must have cooked dish for Sadya (traditional feast) of Kerala. Sadya without Aviyal will be like pickle without salt. It is a medley of vegetables cooked in spicy coconut paste with some souring agent.
Uniqueness of this dish is that it doesn’t contain any seasoning. Where as in other curries there will be seasoning and it should be prepared and added before removing the dish from fire.
Like other Kerala cooking, it has also under the influence of regional difference, especially with souring agent used to cook Aviyal.
In Thiruvanthapuram region usually tamarind or raw mango is used as souring agent, where in Thrissur curd is used as souring agent, in other parts curd or raw mango is used as souring agent. I have tried all of them each taste wonderful.
Legends behind the Aviyal ?
I think this dish has some reference with Great Epic of Mahabharata . Story goes like this that during time of vanavasa (forced to stay in forest for 12 years) Pandavas are living in the dense forest of Kerala. Except Bhima all the other guys are happy with nuts and fruits what they get from the forest.
While Bhima he loves food and also is a body builder, compared to other guys and desperately needed some solid food, so he gathered all the vegetables available in the forest and cooked them with turmeric and salt and added some ground coconut chili paste and while removing the dish from the fire added some coconut oil and curry leaves.
Curry turned out dry but tasted awesome, Bhima was happy. People of Kerala continued the tradition of making it from then on. I don’t think there is any historical evidence to this story. I got this story from my Grandma.
There is also another story regarding the origin of Aviyal and goes like this: During every year, there was a Vedic conference conducted in Travancore (Now Thiruvanthapuram) in a Kings Palace called Murajapam.
Like the seminars of today, food and accommodation was also provided (Now you have to pay from your pocket while registering for a conference) that time it was provided.
On the last day the chef found that there lot of vegetables waiting to be used, so he didn’t want to waste the vegetables and cooked up Aviyal. King got happy and presented him Gold bracelet and asked him to cook Aviyal for every coming Murajappam. I
like both stories; still I am somewhat inclined towards Bhima’s story. I love grandma’s stories, since they were my bed time favorite.
How Aviyal is cooked ?
Traditionally Aviyal is cooked with Plantain (Ethakka), Elephant Yam(Chena/ Suran), Long string beans(Achinga Payaru), Snake gourd(padavalenga), Cucumber (Vellarikka), Drumsticks(Muringakka) , Egg plant (Brinjal), Raw Mango (Pacha maanga) and Carrots.In northern Kerala they even put Bitter Gourd (Paavakka).
In some recipes of aviyal I have also seen garlic. Amma doesn’t add any garlic or bitter gourd so I like that version.
There is no hard and fast rule that you can cook Aviyal with only certain vegetables but there was still some vegetables don’t go well in the aviyal such as tomato, ladies fingers, cabbage, cauliflower, beetroot (it stains the dish), radish, turnip, onion, sweet potato, etc.
Since I was not able get Elephant yam, snake gourd and drumsticks here in US, I made aviyal with potato, beans, carrot, cucumber, eggplant etc. Cooked vegetables get coated with ground coconut chili paste and coconut oil making it awesome. If you get some time, try this vegetable medley sure, it will taste great even Bhima can enjoy it why you can’t just kidding. Here goes the recipe.
Enjoy with rice and sambar.
Aviyal
Aviyal is traditional kerala dish with mixed vegetable medely without any seasoning.Lightly spiced.
Servings: 4
Calories: 170kcal
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Potato chopped into 1 ½- 2 inch pieces
- ½ cup Carrot chopped into 1 ½ - 2 inch pieces
- ¾ cup Cucumber chopped into 1 ½- 2 inch pieces
- 1 ½ cup Raw banana chopped into 1 ½- 2 inch pieces
- 1 ½ cup Eggplant chopped into 1 ½- 2 inch pieces
- ½ cup Beans: I used French beans
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
- ½ cup Water
- ½ cup Coconut
- ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 Green chili I used Serrano pepper
- Tamarind: small golf size ball
- 1 tablespoon Coconut oil
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
Instructions
- Wash and peel the skin of banana, potato, carrot and cucumber and cut into 1 ½ -2 inches pieces and set aside. Cut the eggplant into 1 ½ -2 inch pieces and set aside
- Extract juice from the tamarind by heating tamarind with ⅛ cup water for 15 seconds on microwave at high. Strain and set aside the juice.
- Cook the vegetables with turmeric and salt with 1 ⅓ cup of water until it gets cooked well it takes about 25 minutes. Add tamarind juice to the vegetables and cook for another 2 minutes.
- In the mean time grind coconut with green chili and cumin seeds with ¼ cup of water. Add this ground paste to the cooked vegetables and cook for 1 minute.
- To this add curry leaves and coconut oil and mix again once again and switch off the flame.
- Enjoy with rice and sambar.
Nutrition
Calories: 170kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 348mg | Potassium: 552mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 3411IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!
Other traditional Recipes of Kerala Cuisine are
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This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Torviewtoronto says
cucumber is a delicious addition looks yummy
Malar Gandhi says
who cud resist this recipe. love it.
Shanavi says
I've something for u in my blog... Check it out swathi dear..
Viki's Kitchen says
Aviyal looks super delicious dear. Yes, we can't get much vegetables here, but you made it authentic. Above all enjoyed reading the stories involved too. Very nice anecdote. Hereafter I will remember these stories whenever I make this aviyal:)
Joanne says
Haha thanks for sharing the story behind this dish! I love anything with coconut and it looks delicious!
Ananda Rajashekar says
am drooling over here...that looks wonderful 🙂
saritha says
great work..aviyal is looking yummy....
savitha ramesh says
delicious and mouth watering dear
Satya says
Hi Swathi,
how r u dear ??this aviyal is my hubby's favorite ,never got a chance to make it ...thanks for sharing dear
Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com
Jaisy James says
aviayal my fav with rice. lovely pic
Gayathri's Cook Spot says
Nice stories. Aviyal looks so yummy..
Hamaree Rasoi says
Swathi , enjoyed reading the story behind it. This coconut based dish sounds perfect to go with plain rice and dal.
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
Rumana Rawat says
Love aviyal.looks yummy..loved both the stories..
Prathibha says
Love aviyal...looks yummy..loved both the stories..
Nisa Homey says
Hi there....I will repeat the story to my kids...when they refuse avial..lovely clicks..I am going to make today...kothiyavunnu....
Suhaina says
my all time fav.. u have done it so perfectly..nice clicks too.
Ellie (Almost Bourdain) says
Thanks for sharing all these wonderful traditional recipes. This is another exciting recipe that I won't have known if not because of your blog.
PALATABLE says
Healthy and yummy, looks great. Enjoy reading the story behind it, thanks dear for sharing...
http://treatntrick.blogspot.com
Melissa (The Sword in the Scone) says
Thanks for being my first follower! I love Indian cuisine, so I look forward to making a recipe of yours in the near future.
FoodLovers says
yummy avial swathi
Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal says
Sounds and looks superb.
Premalatha Aravindhan says
Avial luks delicious swathi,very tempting click...
Miriam says
This looks incredible, I'll make it soon :). And what interesting stories! Thanks for sharing. Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
Rachana says
Thats such a beautiful and delicious curry. Looks so tempting 🙂
Foodie Ann says
Avial looks adipoli...:)
Kairali sisters says
Hello swathi..Adipoli aviyal, i thinnk this is excatly how my mom makes it and you know what, i eat aviyal only when my mom makes it, i dont even dare to taste even when i make it he he..Ahha..looks perfect...
Peggy says
What a beautiful dish! I bet it was super tasty! I love all the vegetables!
HGourmet Foodie says
Its good to know the history of this unique dish. Every region has its own way of cooking. I really enjoyed reading the post. aviyal looks delicious!!!
kothiyavunu.com says
sadarana Aviyal enikishtamilla but this looks thakarpan.
Pavithra says
Iiiiiiiiii love it ..i can eat whole thing as a full meal.. my fav one.. Looks delicious dear.
Shanavi says
Amazing avial..Perfect for adai's..Loving it..
Jagruti જાગૃતિ says
nice to know few stories from you swathi..aviyal looks tasty and yummy!!
Faith says
What a great way to make veggies! Sounds really delicious with the flavor of coconut!
Pushpa says
Avial looks delicious Swathi,although have some malayalee friends,never visited Kerala.Have to visit Guruvayoor and the backwaters for sure...
Nithya says
Authentic and yummy 🙂 we make it with a little gravy.. looks tempting 🙂
aipi says
Very classic n authentic..looks delicious!
US Masala
G.Pavani says
mouthwatering n yummy aviyal
Sushma Mallya says
My fav its been such a long time since I prepared them:)...urs look so inviting
Subhashini says
I love Avial a lot.yours look yummy.
Priya says
Wat an authentic dish, looks yummy..
Pari says
I love the aviyal but today more than that I loved reading both the stories but liked the Bhima version more.
FOODELICIOUS
Roshan says
very yummy aviyal..
sinfullyspicy says
This looks like a wonderful home cooked dish..perfect with steaming rice & dal!
Nithu Bala says
Delicious:-) Nice pictures..