Brinjal Avial

By Frank Krishner

Aviyal is a dish that has a unique place in a typical Kerala and Tamil cuisine.


It is a thick mixture of a lot vegetables, curd and coconut.  In fact, my friend Dhanesh Nair's mother says that the word "aviyal" is used to denote an assortment or a mixture!
Aviyal  is seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves. .Vegetables commonly used in aviyal are yam, plantain, pumpkin, carrots, beans, brinjal and avarai. Some people prefer to substitute raw mango or tamarind pulp for the curd. Aviyal can be made into a gravy and eaten with rice or be made into a semi-solid side dish. .

Here's how I make Brinjal Aviyal. Bachelor style. It's Quick. A ten-minute dish.
First get out to the market and shop for
green brinjals, if not available, the purple ones are fine. So we have brinjal (small eggplant) - about 4, a couple of green bananas or plantains,
two large onions, two medium sized tomatoes.
two or three green chillies, a quarter cup of dessicated coconut or of you wish you can grate fresh coconut.
I use both curd and tamarind: about three tablespoons of curd and  a tablespoon of tamarind paste [ready made]. You would also like to have three tiny onions, a little haldi or turmeric powder [a small teaspoon], one tablespoon cooking oil of your choice.
mustard seeds, vendhayam, salt, curry leaves (don't forget these) and a couple of dried red chillies

I usually chop up the onion, brinjal, tomatoes in longish bits and slit the green chillies.

I use  the mixer-grinder to blend the small onion, coconut, dried red chillies, turmeric powder into a masala paste. Then I mix the tamarind with the curd.

Heat oil and add mustard seeds, vendhayam and curry leaves.Wait till the seeds crackle and then add the copped things: onion, tomato, brinjal and green chillies and fry for about a minute. Then pop in the tamarind- curd mix. Cook tillt he vegetables get tender, sprinkling a bit of water ocasionally to avoid 'burning'.

When the  veggies get tender, add the blended mixture and keep stirring.

After two minutes the brinjal avial is ready .

It tastes good when teamed up with with curd rice