Avial

Avial, a south Indian curry from the spice coast of Kerala in India is quite authentic, but it's also an easy recipe to put together for a quick weeknight meal. Mixed vegetables are cooked to tenderness and drowned in a sauce of coconut milk and a few simple spices. A vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free recipe.

My easy vegetable curry can be a lifesaver on weeknights. But if you want a variation, I have for you an Avial, a South Indian curry from the south Indian state of Kerala.

An Avial is a medley of colorful vegetables drowning in a coconut sauce and flavored, among other ingredients, with coconut oil. That's right -- the oil here is not just a cooking medium, but it actually acts as a key flavoring ingredient. Which is not really surprising because Kerala is a coastal state and coconut grows abundantly here, finding its way into almost all of the recipes that are local to this region.

I am rather persnickety about where I add coconut or coconut oil. That's because I love coconut with a passion-- its unique flavor make it invaluable in recipes like this South Indian Curry. But that flavor can also drown out other essential flavors in recipes where it's not meant to be added. A biryani, for instance, would be weird when made with coconut oil. So would curries like Chana Masala or other recipes from the north of India, where coconut is an unfamiliar intruder, and for good reason.

My Avial does veer from the traditional in one aspect, though-- instead of grinding up fresh coconut, as a cook from Kerala would do, I use coconut milk.

There are two reasons for this: one is that I like the sauciness that the coconut milk adds. Traditional avial is rather thick but I like a little sauce for my rice, and so does Desi.

The other reason is that coconut milk just makes this recipe easier and quicker than if you had to start with fresh coconut and go through all the steps of cracking it open, prising out the flesh, and then grinding it up. Coconut milk gives you all the flavor without all the work, so why bother? (I prefer not to use the prepackaged frozen shredded coconut in this recipe because it simply doesn't have the juiciness of fresh coconut so key to this recipe).

Table of Contents

• Ingredients
• Tips for making avial
• What to serve with avial
• Related recipes
• Avial (South Indian Vegetable Curry)

Ingredients

• Fresh veggies. I used sweet potatoes, potatoes, a purple and a white carrot and green beans. Frozen is fine for green beans or peas, if you use them.
• Coconut milk: Use canned or freshly squeezed coconut milk.
• Coconut oil: Coconut oil is not just a cooking medium here but also a flavoring agent, so be sure to use it.
• Cumin seeds: The earthy richness of cumin is invaluable in this recipe.
• Mustard seeds: Mustard seeds, when they sputter, add an amazing pungent flavor that infuses through the curry.
• Green chili peppers, like jalapeno
• Curry leaves: Again, invaluable here for the south Indian flavor.
• Cilantro for garnishing
• Vegan yogurt. Optional. Can use lime instead.
•  Salt

Tips for making avial

• Start with your favorite veggies. Root veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes and potatoes are awesome. In Kerala, raw plantains, which also grow abundantly there, would very likely go into this dish. You can also use green beans and even green peas.
• Cut your veggies evenly, so they cook at the same time. For the best results, cut your veggies in chunky slivers about 1 ½ inches long.
• Use the best quality coconut milk you can find. The coconut flavor, imparted by the coconut milk and the coconut oil, are really key here.
• Use coconut oil. There's really no compromise or substitution here, it's an essential ingredient.
• The curry leaves add a great flavor punch, so try and find them. If you absolutely can't, saute some cilantro leaves in the hot oil and add. It won't be the same, but it'll be good.
• The vegan yogurt is optional, but try and use it because it really deepens the flavors here. You can sub lime juice if you don't have any, but yogurt is definitely preferred.
• Not all avial recipes include ginger, but I love it here. Ginger and coconut milk are great flavors together, and the ginger tastes amazing in this sauce.

There you have it, a primer on making an amazing avial.

What to serve with avial

Rice. Rice. And more rice. Rice is the grain of choice in Kerala and white rice tastes best with this curry. Choose a long-grain, fragrant rice like basmati rice for the best flavor. You can also serve this with coconut rice.

You don't need much else on the side-- perhaps poppadum and Indian pickle like carrot pickle or lime pickle.

Related recipes

• Vegetable Korma
• Chickpea Curry
• Green Tomato Stew
• Mushroom Spinach Curry
• Kerala Vegetable Moilee