Avial

The vegetables are boiled rather than fried, and only crisp ones go in.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (yoghurt).

Ingredients

• 200 g elephant foot yam, in batons
• 200 g raw plantain, in batons
• 200 g ash gourd, in batons
• 150 g carrots, in batons
• 150 g green beans, in lengths
• 1 drumstick, in 6 cm lengths
• 150 g snake gourd, in batons
• 120 g broad beans
• 200 g coconut, grated
• 4 green chillies
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 150 g yoghurt, or 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 20 curry leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 200 ml water

Method

1. THE VEGETABLES ARE BOILED RATHER THAN FRIED, AND ONLY CRISP ONES GO IN. Its article says both and the first is in the name: the word avial is also used to mean 'boiled' or 'cooked in water', a sense DERIVED FROM THE WAY THE DISH IS MADE. And then: GENERALLY, ONLY CRISP VEGETABLES ARE USED. So there is no frying anywhere in it and no soft vegetable either -- the batons have to keep their shape through the boiling and still be recognisable on the plate. A pan of softened mixed vegetables in coconut sauce is the thing this is not, and its article has a phrase for that too: calling something an avial means calling it a mess.
2. THEY ARE CUT TO THE SAME SIZE, IN BATONS. Five centimetres by one. Uniform cutting is what lets eight vegetables finish together.
3. ITS ARTICLE NAMES THIRTEEN AS THE USUAL NUMBER AND LISTS THEM. Elephant foot yam, plantain, ash melon, carrots, beans, brinjal, cucumber, drumstick pods, snake gourd and broad bean, with bitter gourd in the Kozhikode version and tomato in the Kollam one. Eight is a reasonable domestic number; the point is the variety, not the count.
4. THEY GO IN BY COOKING TIME, IN THREE WAVES. Yam, plantain and drumstick first, then carrot and beans, then the gourds. The water is barely enough to steam them -- two hundred millilitres for a kilo and a half.
5. THE COCONUT IS GROUND COARSE WITH CUMIN AND CHILLI, NOT SMOOTH. A rough paste, pulsed rather than blended. Smooth coconut paste makes a sauce; coarse coconut stays visible, which is what it should do.
6. THE SOUR ELEMENT IS A CHOICE AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS SO. Some people skip the curd or replace it with raw mango or tamarind pulp. Curd gives a milder, creamier result; tamarind a sharper and darker one.
7. IF CURD GOES IN, IT GOES IN OFF THE HEAT. Whisked and stirred through at the end. Boiled, it splits and the dish turns grainy.
8. THE COCONUT OIL AND CURRY LEAVES ARE STIRRED IN RAW AT THE END. Its article calls the dish seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves, and raw coconut oil tastes completely different from cooked -- grassy and sweet. This is the step people skip and then wonder what is missing.
9. IT CAN BE A GRAVY OR A SEMI-DRY SIDE, WHICH ITS ARTICLE ALLOWS. The thick one is the usual; a thinner version belongs to Central Travancore.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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