Avial is one of the trademark Kerala recipes. Mild, stew-like, lush with juicy vegetables, creamy with yogurt, and flavored with fresh coconut and chilies ground to a paste, and tempered in coconut oil with curry leaves. Tastes great on rice, as a side dish for adai and pongal, and puliyodarai, and coconut rice. Requires a bunch of vegetables, but that’s it. Real simple to make.
This is a semi dry chutney with just 4 ingredients: cilantro, red chilies, tamarind, urad dal. And salt, and hing. Pairs perfectly with idli, dosai, rice, anything you’d have a chutney to go with. It’s really neither a chutney nor a powder (podi) – it’s not a runny, watery paste like a chutney, nor is it completely dry like a podi. There is a little moisture from the cilantro, but it’s on the dry side. Simple to make, lasts in the refrigerator for about a month easily.
Akkara adisil is the quintessential Iyengar dessert, and there are no two opinions about how it should be made – it’s basically rice and moong dal cooked in lots of milk and ghee, and a healthy dose of jaggery or unrefined sugar.
The key to this dish is to cook the rice and dal in a mix of water and milk, preferably whole milk.
Story behind the dish:
Legend goes that Andal (Gotha Devi, the lone female among the 12 Aazhvars) longed to become one with Krishna. She obsereved a nonbu (penance, fast) during the month of Margazhi and offered him neivedhyam every day. On the 27th day, she made this dish, cooked rice and dal in milk, sweetened with jaggery, and dripping with ghee, and offered as neivedhyam. She was granted her wish on this day, which is known as Koodaravalli. Yestreday, our local temple performed Andal Kalyanam, and I had taken this as prasadam.
While uthappam has its own traditional recipe, two day old idli or dosai batter makes wonderful uthappam, which is a slightly thick dosai. I dislike calling it pancakes – pancakes are more melt in your mouth, not much subtance/texture. Uthappam is a robust, spongy in the center and crispy in the edge, thick, smaller dosai. This version is spiced up with molagapodi (idli podi) and topped with onions and cilantro.
A satisfying starter, tea time snack. Somewhat healthy! Steamed potatoes, peas, green beans, carrots mashed with onions, ginger, chilies, dipped in a batter of chick pea and rice flour, and deep fried. While you can make this with just potatoes, the addition of vegetables adds some color and a lovely dimension to the dish.
