I am not a keralite. But my village (read)is in south tamil nadu near kerala border. So In our home we prepares recipes mostly related to kerala & Tirunelveli combination. Aviyal & jackfruit thoran both are often prepared in my home.
Aviyal (Avial) which is a must in our Sadyas .The word ‘Aviyal’ means a mix of several. As a dish Aviyal (Avial) is a mixed vegetable recipe with thick gravy. . Avial is a semi-dry preparation with mixed vegetables, held together in a yogurt-coconut base. Avial in my house is made with curd(yogurt) for sourness but there are versions with tamarind added instead of yogurt. You can use many vegetables available to prepare this dish but the very common ones are Yam, Ash Gourd, Carrots, Beans, Drumsticks and Raw Plantain (Banana). You can also add Cucumber (vellarikka), Raw Papaya), Potatoes etc. This is a great combination with Rice and also as a side dish.
Ingredients:
Brinjals - 2
Raw banana -2
Potato -2
Carrot -2
Drumsticks - 3
French beans - 100 gms
Pumpkin - ½ cup
Tender Yam (Chena) - ½ cup
Curd (Medium sour) - ½ cup
Coconut - 1 ½ cups
Green chilies - 4 to 5No
Turmeric powder - ½ tablespoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Salt - to taste
Seasoning:
Curry Leaves - 1 bunch
Coconut Oil - 1 tablespoon
Method:
Clean the vegetables and cut them into 2 inch pieces and parboil them with turmeric powder and salt.
Add only a little water since the vegetables themselves will have enough juice to keep the curry thick gravy.
Grate the coconut and grind it with green chillies and cumin seeds to get a smooth paste.
Take the cooked vegetables and add the ground paste, salt and curd and Boil for a few minutes and once the vegetables are cooked.
Season it with coconut oil and curry leaves.Serve it with Rice.
Idichakka Thoran
Idichakka (Tender Jack fruit) thoran is a delicious dry dish served along with cooked rice.. Removing the skin and cleaning up the jack fruit is a tedious job but the taste matters. In season, people at kerala /sout tamil nadu make variety of dishes using jack fruit, jack fruit seeds and tender jack fruit. The thoran made up of tender jack fruit is a tasty traditional dish .Idichakka Thoran is a very tasty and is good to be served with Rice.
Ingredients:
Small Chakka (Raw Jackfruit) : 1 small
Coconut - 1 cup
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 spring
Dry Red Chillies - 2 nos(cut into pieces)
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Black gram (Uzhunthu parippu) - 1 tsp
Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - as required
Method:
Slice the Jackfruit into small size pieces.
Add salt, turmeric powder and cook the jackfruit in a small quantity of water.
When cooked, mash the cooked vegetable either using the Ammikallu or in a mixer.
Heat Coconut Oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and black gram and allow them to splutter.
Add curry leaves and dry red chillies and fry them for a minute.
Add the crushed Chakka to this and mix well. Finally add the coconut and cook them.
For Chakka varatti Or Jack Fruit Halwa see here
