Avial with Rice

Name: Avial with Rice
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Kerala)
Ingredients: 500 g mixed vegetables, cut into 5 cm batons:; Raw banana (vazhakai): 150 g; Drumstick (muringakkai): 100 g, cut into 5 cm pieces; Yam (chena): 100 g; Carrot: 80 g; Beans: 70 g; 1 cup (100 g) freshly grated coconut; 3 green chillies; 1 tsp (3 g) cumin seeds; 1/2 tsp (1.5 g) turmeric powder; 3/4 cup (180 ml) thick curd/yoghurt (slightly sour); 2 sprigs curry leaves; 2 tbsp (30 ml) coconut oil (raw, added at the end — not cooked); 1 tsp (5 g) salt; Avial must use at least 5–7 different vegetables for its characteristic complex flavour.; The coconut paste must be coarse, not smooth — chunky coconut gives avial its distinctive texture.; Adding curd after removing from heat is mandatory — boiling with curd creates a different, inferior dish.; Raw coconut oil poured over at the end is the characteristic finishing touch — never use cooked oil for this.

🍗 Non-veg🌾 Gluten-free📊 Medium

A thick, coconut-yoghurt-vegetable medley made from 7–15 mixed vegetables — one of the cornerstone dishes of Kerala cuisine, attributed to Bhima of the Mahabharata (who created it during the Pandavas' incognito year). The breakfast version is simpler than the elaborate Onam sadhya avial, using fewer vegetables and a slightly thinner consistency. Served with boiled rice or rice porridge.

⏱️20 minPrep

🔥25 minCook

🕒45 minTotal

🍽️4Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Avial with Rice

Bring 1 cup water to boil in a wide pan.
Add harder vegetables first (yam, raw banana) over high heat.
After 4 minutes, add carrot and drumstick.
After 3 more minutes, add beans.
Add turmeric and salt.
Cook over medium heat until all vegetables are tender but still holding shape — about 10–12 minutes total.
Water should nearly evaporate.
Grind coconut with green chillies and cumin seeds to a coarse, slightly chunky paste — not smooth.
This is important for avial's texture.
Add ground coconut paste to cooked vegetables.
Stir gently over low heat for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat completely.
Add sour curd/yoghurt and curry leaves, folding gently.
Do NOT heat after adding curd or it will curdle.
Pour raw coconut oil over the surface — do not stir in; let it pool on top for flavour.
Serve immediately.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 310 kcal | 7 g | 38 g | 15 g | 6 g | Avial is one of the few dishes in Kerala cooking that is claimed by multiple communities — it appears in both Nair and Syrian Christian traditions with slight variations. The mythological attribution to Bhima, the second Pandava, gives avial a legendary status. It is the first dish served at Onam sadhya and occupies a position of supreme importance in Kerala's culinary canon. The requirement to use many vegetables reflects Kerala's biodiversity of plant foods. ---

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