Aviyal

 "I am sorry for the things I said when I was hungry." That absolutely sums up my friend whose mom's Aviyal recipe I am sharing today in the Featured Recipes on Friendship Week series.  There are many upsides of having a South Indian friend one of them being able to move away from idli-dosa-sambhar in the name of South Indian cuisine. There's appam, rassam, pachdi and all sorts of rice dishes and many more. South Indians have a boatload of rice dishes and for me that's another upside of having Jyotsana as a friend. She is my eternal companion in ricevangilism (yes, that's totally a thing!). But more on that later.

Today's recipe Aviyal, is a pretty easy and adaptable recipe. The flavors are beautiful and it is perfect for summer meals.
One will find slight variations to the recipe from one South Indian state to the other owing to plantation and different cultural and regional food practices for example use of plantain, coconut oil, milk or ajwain in the traditional preparation. As Jyotsana is from Andhra, such flavors are dominant in this preparation.

Coming back to the ricevangilism talk, Jyotsana and I are friends from college and both of us have a humongous crush on rice. Both of us balk at the idea of not having rice on a daily basis and no offence, but we judge people who do not like rice. Aviyal does not use any rice in the recipe but it is eaten with rice. So no issues there. Too much talk about it. Let's get to the recipe. 

But before that, this is Jyo and I, about 6 months back. She takes lovely pictures (another upside *wink*).

Thanks so much aunty for the recipe and Jyo for a being a passive by-stander in the kitchen. (Please don't kill me after this)

Ingredients:

Mix of cauliflower florets, cubed carrots and potatoes and peas- 2 cups

Chopped tomatoes- 1/2 cup

Grated fresh coconut- 1 cup

Curd- 1 1/2 cup

Fresh curry leaves- 4-5 stalks

Green chillies- 3-4 nos (adjust to taste)

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Dried red chillies- 2 nos

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida- 1 small pinch

Oil- 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Recipe:

Boil mixed vegetables in water with little salt just until tender and cooked.

Drain and keep aside to cool.

Cook tomatoes by boiling in some water just until softened and not mushy.

Grind together grated coconut, green chillies, cumin seeds, salt and about 20-25 curry leaves to a smooth paste.

Take cooked vegetables and tomatoes in a mixing bowl and add ground coconut mix.

Beat curd till smooth and add to the bowl.

Mix well to combine. Check for salt.

In a tempering pan (aunty used one made of iron), heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When seeds begin to crackle, add asafoetida. Break red chillies into half an add. Add few curry leaves. 

Remove from heat and pour tempering over vegetable mix.

Serve with rice.