Photo: Prakrutim · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Kerala · Dessert

Aval Vilayichathu

Traditional 41. Aval Vilayichathu recipe

🧺 Ingredients

• 250g thick beaten rice flakes (red/brown aval — not paper-thin variety)
• 250g dark jaggery, grated
• 80ml water
• 150g (1½ cups) freshly grated coconut
• 60g (½ cup) coconut bits (thengakothu), chopped into 1cm pieces
• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds (ellu)
• 60g (⅓ cup) roasted split gram dal (pottu kadala / roasted chana)
• 3 green cardamom pods, crushed
• 1½ tbsp ghee

👩‍🍳 How to make Aval Vilayichathu

1. Roast garnishes (8 mins, medium heat): Heat ghee in a wide, heavy pan. Add coconut bits and fry, stirring constantly, until golden brown and fragrant — about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. In the same pan, dry-toast sesame seeds on low heat until they begin to pop — about 1 minute. Remove. Then roast the pottu kadala until it deepens slightly in colour and releases a nutty aroma — about 2 minutes.
2. Prepare jaggery syrup (5 mins, medium heat): Dissolve jaggery in 80ml water, stirring until completely melted. Pass through a strainer into a clean pan to remove impurities. Cook the strained syrup on medium heat until it reaches one-thread consistency — a drop pinched between thumb and forefinger should form a single thread when fingers are pulled apart, about 3–4 minutes.
3. Combine (3 mins, low heat): Add the aval to the coconut-jaggery mixture. Fold through all the roasted garnishes (coconut bits, sesame, pottu kadala). Cook on low heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring gently so the aval is evenly coated. The flakes should hold together slightly when pressed.
4. Finish (2 mins off heat): Remove from heat. Add crushed cardamom and fold through. Cover and rest for 20–25 minutes — the aval will absorb residual moisture and firm up beautifully.

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