Avial is a tasty, spicy, and nutritional mix of vegetables that has been exciting the taste buds of Keralites for centuries. There are, however, many stories about the origin of this delicious dish. One of it goes back to the age of the Mahabharatha, when the Pandavas, who lost to the Kauravas in a game of dice, were exiled into the forest for 14 long years. Bhim, one of the Pandava brothers, disguised himself as a cook at the royal kitchen of the Virat dynasty.
Once, when the dishes were not ready even as late as lunchtime, Bhim cut a variety of vegetables that were lying around into finger sized pieces and cooked a dish which later came to known as 'Avial.' It is also said that avial was made from the left over vegetables and the coconut scrapes from which coconut milk had been extracted for 'adaprathaman' (desert).
Avial is one of the most popular vegetarian dishes in South India. Though the dish is popular in places like Coorg, Mangalore, and Tamil Nadu, it undoubtedly holds a special place in the Malayali cuisine. The traditional Kerala 'sadya' (feast) is incomplete without a generous helping of this spicy, flavoursome, vegetarian goodness on fresh banana leaf.
There may be slight variations in the taste and flavour of the dish at different places. Avial is usually prepared with locally sourced vegetables like taro, yam, moringa, raw plantain, cucumber, egg plant, and tomato. Beans, carrots, and potatoes too are commonly used in avial. In some parts of Kerala, curd, tamarind or raw mango is added for the sourness, while in some other parts tomato alone is added for that perfect tanginess. Grated coconut, green chillies, and cumin are ground to perfection to make the spicy mixture that is added into the boiled vegetables. In Ernakulam, a bit of chilli powder too is added into this mixture giving it a bright red colour. Meanwhile, in some other parts, a few cloves of ginger or shallots are crushed along with coconut to make avial more flavoursome.
Avial prepared at places around Palakkad has many specialities. Here the dish in fact has all the vegetables in its natural colours as turmeric powder is not added. Besides, boiled Bengal gram too is added to enhance the taste. Soaked cashews are either ground along with the coconut mixture or cooked with the vegetables.
The vegetables, cut into two inches, should not be overcooked into a mash like consistency, as it would lose its natural flavours. Every piece of vegetable should be nicely cooked to the right consistency. So it is important to regulate the cooking time of each vegetable. Vegetables like carrots, moringa, potatoes and yam which has high cooking time should be added first. Cucumbers and egg plants which are easily cooked should only be added in the end. The vegetables, marinated in turmeric powder, should be cooked in steam with a little bit of water in the vessel. The coconut, green chilli, and cumin mixture, too, should be added to release its flavours. Curd is added just before the flame is turned off. Coconut oil is poured over the dish in the end to lock in all the flavours. At some places, the dish is finished off by adding the mustard tempering, though it is not very common.
Experts say that adding raw plantain enhances the taste of avial. The coconut should not be finely ground into a paste but gently crushed along with green chillies, cumin, and some shallots.
