One thing about preparing a sadya, or any feast for that matter, is the number of different ingredients you need to procure. Being an all-veg feast classically, most of the sadya dishes have an array of vegetables that go in them. Avial is the king of it (just like how it is the king of all Kerala dishes). It takes so many vegetables to make the dish which could often leave you with a quarter of yam, some random carrot slices or a half-cut drumstick, you get the idea.
Chef and social media influencer Arun Vijayan has come up with a solution. Arun, who won over the foodie circles of Instagram, presents the Onmanorama audience with a simple stir-fry made using leftover avial vegetables. The veggies are sliced and cooked just the way it is done for a traditional avial. They are then stir-fried to perfection and garnished with some toasted coconut. This delicious and aromatic side dish is perfect to replace the thoran in a classic sadya platter.
Ingredients
20 gm carrots
50gm long beans
35gm yam
50gm curry cucumber
20gm drumsticks
30gm raw banana
2 onions, sliced
20gm shallots
5 dried red chillies
15gm garlic
Half a coconut, grated and fried
2 sprigs of curry leaves
Salt to taste
½ tsp turmeric powder
25ml coconut oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
Preparation
Julienne the vegetables
Boil them with salt and turmeric powder
Strain them and keep them aside
Heat coconut oil in a non-stick pan
Temper the mustard seeds in it
Add onion, shallots, garlic and red chillies
Saute them until the onions turn translucent
Add the boiled vegetables to it and stir fry at medium heat.
Once the veggies are cooked, turn off the heat
Garnish it with fried coconut and curry leaves before serving