Aviyal (Indian vegetable stew with coconut & yogurt)
- Minutes to Prepare:
- Minutes to Cook:
- Number of Servings: 8
Ingredients
1 cup plantains.5 cup turnips.5 cup hard yellow yams (NOT sweet potatoes).5 cup zucchini.5 cup cucumber (with peel).5 cup carrots, raw4 hot green chili peppers.5 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened.5 cup fat-free plain yogurtA dash of saltA pinch of ground turmeric1 tsp ground cumin.25 tsp cumin seed6 curry leaves1 tsp coconut oil or canola oil
Wash all the vegetables, scrubbing the dirt off the root veggies. Cut all of them into roughly equal sized sticks (like the carrot sticks you get with chicken wings!), about 1.5 to 2 inches long. This helps them cook at an even pace - very important when you've got both root veggies and squashes. The squashes will cook in next to no time ...
In a blender, blend together (with the minimum of water) the shredded coconut and the green chilies (which you can omit if you choose to) and whirrrrrr for about 20 seconds. Set aside while you cook the rest.
Over medium heat, heat a cup of water and toss in the hardest of the root vegetables, typically the yellow yams (these are the hard yellow yams, not the sweet potatoes - expect a fibrous skin like yucca). Add salt, turmeric and the powdered cumin.
When the yams (or whatever) have softened a bit (a minute or two of cooking), add in, one at a time, the other root vegetables you're using. Add a little more water if you need to - keeping the pot covered usually helps retain the steam so you don't need too much water.
Once the root veggies are beginning to soften (another minute or two) add in the squashes (cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, whatever) and green beans if you're using them. Cook for another minute or two till the squashes begin to go translucent.
Add in the blended coconut/hot-chilies mixture and stir *carefully*.
Add a bit of water to the yogurt and stir till smooth. Reduce heat to very low and add in the stirred, diluted yogurt.
On a separate burner of the stove, heat the teaspoon of oil on high heat. When the oil is hot, toss in the cumin seeds and curry leaves and let heat until the cumin seeds plump up (a few seconds). Turn off the heat under the oil and pour the oil/cumin/curry leaves over the aviyal. Stir once *carefully* to distribute the oil in the dish (you *want* a little pool of oil/cumin/curry-leaf on the top for presentation purposes).
Serve hot with rice and dal (preferably parippu - another Kerala speciality).
Number of Servings: 8
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BIGGIRL208.
In a blender, blend together (with the minimum of water) the shredded coconut and the green chilies (which you can omit if you choose to) and whirrrrrr for about 20 seconds. Set aside while you cook the rest.
Over medium heat, heat a cup of water and toss in the hardest of the root vegetables, typically the yellow yams (these are the hard yellow yams, not the sweet potatoes - expect a fibrous skin like yucca). Add salt, turmeric and the powdered cumin.
When the yams (or whatever) have softened a bit (a minute or two of cooking), add in, one at a time, the other root vegetables you're using. Add a little more water if you need to - keeping the pot covered usually helps retain the steam so you don't need too much water.
Once the root veggies are beginning to soften (another minute or two) add in the squashes (cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, whatever) and green beans if you're using them. Cook for another minute or two till the squashes begin to go translucent.
Add in the blended coconut/hot-chilies mixture and stir *carefully*.
Add a bit of water to the yogurt and stir till smooth. Reduce heat to very low and add in the stirred, diluted yogurt.
On a separate burner of the stove, heat the teaspoon of oil on high heat. When the oil is hot, toss in the cumin seeds and curry leaves and let heat until the cumin seeds plump up (a few seconds). Turn off the heat under the oil and pour the oil/cumin/curry leaves over the aviyal. Stir once *carefully* to distribute the oil in the dish (you *want* a little pool of oil/cumin/curry-leaf on the top for presentation purposes).
Serve hot with rice and dal (preferably parippu - another Kerala speciality).
Number of Servings: 8
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BIGGIRL208.
Nutritional Info Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 89.3
- Total Fat: 2.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0.6 mg
- Sodium: 56.9 mg
- Total Carbs: 15.4 g
- Dietary Fiber: 2.1 g
- Protein: 2.5 g