Avial, My style

Avial is a vegetable stew in raw coconut and curd gravy. I love Avial because it is mild, full of flavor and has assorted vegetables. 

Hubby made a big bowl of curd last night. Well, how do we use it before it starts to get sour? Brilliant idea, Make Avial. I then rummaged / foraged in the fridges and came up with a not so traditional mix of veggies. This my style of Avial, so they are all welcome. Hey, I am in luck! Found a quarter of a small coconut in the deep freeze, left over from last week. 

There were different recipes on the internet for avial. I went with ingredients and the result is as follows: 

Ingredients:
Curd - 1 cup
Coconut - 2 tbs.
Dry red chillies - 2 nos.
Curry leaves - 6 - 8 nos.
Cumin and Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp each
Oil for garnishing - 2 tbs.
Green chillies - 2 nos. small
Salt - to taste
Rice flour - 1 tbs.

Assorted veggies:
Drumsticks - 1 nos. cut into 2.5" pieces
Potatoes - 2 nos.
carrots - 2 nos.
French beans - 20 nos.

You can also add yam, raw plantain etc. Since I didnot have them, I did without.

Method:
Cut the vegetables lengthwise. In a thick bottomed dish, pour enough water to cover the vegetables, adding half a tea spoon of salt: cook until water comes to a is boil and the veggies are cooked but still retain their shape. Drain the water and keep the vegetable stock aside for the gravy.
Grate coconut and grind it along with chopped green chillies.
Mix it to the cooked vegetables. The coconut gets cooked partially in the heat.
Stir the rice flour in the vegetable stock and bring it to a boil. It begins to thicken. Take it off the stove and mix to the cooked vegetables. Let it rest for a few minutes or until the mixture is cooled down. 
Whisk the curd for a smooth paste and stir it into the curry. Adjust the thickness of the curry by adding some water to get the desired consistency.
Heat oil in a frying pan and add cumin and mustard seeds, when they begin to splutter, add curry leaves and red chillies. Pour this over the curry. 
Avial is ready to eat!
Mine came out very tasty. Try it and tell me what you think of it.