South Indian Thali

When Srivalli had announced her Thali Mela ,I was in full josh to send in my entries for it. But as I got to saw the wonderful creations of my fellow bloggers, I some how felt that I could not match with their talent. But this is my humble South Indian Thali that goes to Srivalli's Thali Mela

This time around Tamil New Year s day was not a big affair at home with my maternal uncle being hospitalized. Mom and me had made this simple lunch for the day . It had 

• Avarakkai Sambhar
• Avial
• Mangai Pachadi
• Curd
• Appalam

I will be giving the recipe for each of the dish in separate posts and link it back to this post. As of today,

 I will share the recipe for Avial.

Avarakkai Sambhar

Mangai Pachadi

Avial

Ingredients

Carrot - 1/2 cup 

Beans - 1/2 cup

Brinjal - 1/2 cup

Drumstick - 1 cut into 1 inch pieces

Onion - 1 cup

Broad Beans -1/2 cup

Cluster beans - 1/4 cup

Yam - 1/4 cup

Raw Banana - 1/2

Curd - 1/2 

Coconut oil- 1tsp

Mustard seeds and Curry leaves for seasoning

Salt to taste

For gravy

Scrapped coconut - 1 cup

Green chilies - 4 - 5

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method

Cut all the vegetable into thin long pieces ( I feel this adds beauty to the dish)

Steam or boil , carrot, beans, broad beans, cluster beans separately

Boil drumstick and Brinjal separately

Boil yam and raw banana separately

The reason for boiling or steaming each vegetable separately is, each has its own time to cook

Each vegetable needs to be cooked well but not mashed, hence it is always better to cook them separately

In a blender take the ingredients for gravy and make a fine paste, add very little water

In a heavy bottomed wok or kadai add a little oil.

When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and allow them to sputter

Add the cut onions to it and saute till done

Add the boiled vegetables to the wok and mix well

Add the coconut paste to this and add salt.

Let this mixture boil well and reduce to form a thick gravy consistency

Check for salt and add the curry leaves to the Avial

Remove from fire and let the Avial cool.

Now add curd and coconut oil when the Avial is cool. 

This adds an authentic flavor of Kerala to the dish

Avial is always an integral part of any auspicious function at home and is a specialty dish of both my grandmothers. 

Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking today. 

This South Indian Thali is being served at Valli's Thali Mela