Royal TREAT

A highlight of the harvest festival of Onam in Kerala is the ‘sadya’ or feast – an 18-dish meal that brings together varied colours, textures and flavours in a feast that is fit for a king

Ingredients

4 cups of mixed vegetables, cut into even-size batons (carrots, French beans, raw plantain, yam, drumstick, pumpkin, cluster beans; green mango and potato are optional)

• 1/2 coconut, grated

• 4–5 green chillies

• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 cup yoghurt (slightly sour)

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• Salt to taste

• Curry leaves to garnish

• Mustard seed to garnish

Directions

Boil all the vegetables partly, until they are just about cooked. Make sure that you do not overcook the vegetables – otherwise, they will turn into a mush.

Grind the coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies into a fine paste. Mix this paste with the yogurt. Add this yoghurt-paste mixture to the cooked vegetables and simmer it gently until it all comes together. Remove from heat. Heat the coconut oil gently, and toss the curry leaves and mustard seeds in it. When the mustard seeds pop, pour the oil with the curry leaves and mustard over the aviyal. Serve hot with rice.