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Dinner with Rukmini
Browse all of the recipes in Rukmini Iyer’s cookbooks by ingredient.
Avial
Introduction from Rukmini Iyer
I’m not sure you can get a more traditional South Indian dish than avial – a light coconut-based curry finished with yogurt. You can use a variety of different vegetables, including plantain. My favourite is made with chayote (we call it mereka at home), the vegetable that looks like a cute toothless apple. As these aren’t very easy to find, Mum often makes this with a mixture of carrots, green beans and aubergine; this is her recipe below. The most important thing is that you cut all the veg the same size – this was my grandfather ’s job in the kitchen, and I’d be hard pressed to find more perfectly uniform cut vegetables, even in a professional kitchen.
Ingredients
Essential kit
You will need: a spice grinder or Nutribullet.
Method
Take the yogurt out of the fridge – you want it to reach room temperature as you cook. Put the carrots, tamarind paste, turmeric, curry leaves and salt in a large saucepan. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables, stir, then bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the green beans and aubergine, and a little more water and return to the boil. Cook for a further 10 minutes until the vegetables are all cooked through.
Grind the coconut, coriander seeds and chilli together in a spice grinder or Nutribullet until fine. Add this mixture to the vegetables and simmer for 3–4 minutes to thicken slightly. Turn off the heat.
Beat the yogurt well, then add it to the pan and stir. Heat very gently until you just see a bubble or two break the surface, then turn off the heat – you’re treating this with kid gloves as you don’t want the yogurt to split. The texture you’re after is of vegetables in a light coconut broth, so the consistency of the sauce won’t be very much thicker than milk.
Taste for salt and adjust as needed, then stir through the coconut oil before serving hot with fluffy white rice.
Preview
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From the book
India Express: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Every Day
75 recipes inspired by the vibrant flavours of South India and Bengal
Speedy and fuss-free recipes for maximum flavour in return for minimum effort
Trademark traybakes, as well as stir-fries, snacks, weeknight curries, and simple desserts
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