Aviyal

One of the first things I cooked after moving out of my house 4 years back. My mom would make awesome avial at least once a week. My chitti makes a slightly modified version of my mom's aviyal but I love that version too. Anything with all those veggies, ground coconut and green chillies will be licked off my plate.

Avial is one of the easiest things to make. I'm guessing that years back when the housewife had but few random veggies - not enough for their own unique dish but enough when mixed together, decided to chop them all together, throw in some coconut and green chillies and created magic.

I was pleasantly surprised at how there was little difference between my mom's recipe and Meenakshi Ammal's

To make Aviyal, you will need:

Half a big coconut - grated
5 green chillies
1/2 tsp Jeera
5 spoons of sour curd
One green mango - skinned and sliced into long pieces
Assorted vegetables cut into long pieces (You can use carrots, white pumpkin, yam, potatoes, drumsticks - pretty much everything except ladies finger)
1 cup of coconut oil

Begin by boiling the potatoes, the yam, the drumsticks and the carrots. Once they get tender, throw in the white pumpkin. Add some salt and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Finely grind the grated coconut, jeera and the green chillies with a sprinkle of water and curd.
Add this mixture to the cooking veggies (after removing excess water from the veggies).
Remove after 5 minutes. Add the cut raw mangoes
Add curry leaves
Add the raw coconut oil and give it a little stir.

Didn't I tell you it was simple? :)