AVIL or AVIAL (Mixed vegetables in a spicy buttermilk gravy)

Happy ONAM!! {i know its been a  couple of days since the day of Onam..actually i started writing the post on the day of Onam, but some how got tied up in some house hold work:( So please excuse me for the delay in wishing y'all} As I may have mentioned earlier, although I have been brought up in Mumbai, I was born in Mangalore. So , growing up my mum made alot of dishes at home that were authentic south canara recipes or recipes belonging to the UDUPI cuisine. After completing my engineering ,I got a job and was posted in Mysore. Here in Mysore, I was lucky to have a very good group of friends. This is especially important when you are away from home. Friends become more like your family. Amongst my friends , few of them hailed from KERALA. As I got to know them, I also got to learn alot about the Kerala cuisine. I soon realised that many dishes prepared in Kerala are also prepared in Mangalore and Udupi. The cuisine is very similar.This might be  because mangalore is very near to the KERALA-KARNATAKA border. Avil/ Avial is one such recipe found in both the cuisines.

Avil/Avial is sometimes made in a greenish white gravy and sometimes in a red gravy. The difference is due to the type of chillies used. If you use green chillies you get a Avil/Avial with a greenish white base while if you use dry red chillies , you get a red base. Either ways it tastes superb.

My mum always used dry red chillies and hence I am using the same.

Serve hot Avil/Avial with piping hot  rice and Enjoy!!

So here is the recipe..Hope you all will like it:)

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups of mixed chopped vegetables (I used chayotte, potato, green beans, carrots and peas. Other vegetables of choice could be yam also called as "suran", mangalore cucmber, ridge gourd, raw plantain and drumsticks)
• 1/4 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 tsp jeera
• 5 dry red chillies (i used the Byadgi kind. adjust this number according to your taste)
• 1/2 cup sour buttermilk (i used the store bought buttermilk)(You could  also use sour yogurt instead of butter milk. Just whisk it well before adding)
• 1 tsp tamarind pulp (use if the yogurt is not sour)
• 1 cup freshly grated coconut.
• 1 tbsp of semolina or rava or suji
• Salt as per taste
• For the tadka/tempering:

1. 2 tsp ghee or clarified butter
2. 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
3. 2 dry red chillies
4. 4 curry leaves

PROCEDURE:

• Cook the chopped vegetables in 4 cups of water. Add haldi/ turmeric powder to the vegetable mixture.
• While the vegetables are cooking, grind the coconut, red chillies, jeera (cumin) and  tamarind pulp into a thick paste using very little water.
• Once the vegetables have cooked, add the thick red coconut paste to it and mix well. Cook for about 3-4 minutes.
• Now add the sour  buttermilk. Also add the salt at this point. Also adjust the consistency as per you liking.Bring it to a boil.
• Once it comes to a boil, simmer for about 5 minutes and turn off the heat.
• For the tadka, heat ghee in a pan. When it is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal and the red chillies. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, add the curry leaves and turn off the heat. Add this tadka to the Avil/Avial.
• Serve this Avil/Avial with hot rice.

HAPPY COOKING!!