Avial is a dish which originated from Kerala with the references in Sangam poems and coconut was added in the 7th century and is common in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is a thick mixture of 13 vegetables as recommended by the Siddha Rishis of western ghats and coconut, seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves. Avial is considered an essential part of the Main meal (Chaappaadu in Tamil or Oonu in Malayalam Aviyal in south Tamil Nadu is a mix of up to 15 vegetables including the latest addition of Carrot and Beans. Central Travancore has a slightly different variety of avial with its thin gravy whereas the classical avial is thick.
Ingredients
Generally, only crisp vegetables are used in avial. Vegetables commonly used in avial are elephant yam, plantain, ash pumpkin, carrots, beans, Aubergine, cucumber, drum sticks, snake gourd and avarai, etc. are the recent introduction, while the north Kerala Avial includes bitter gourd also. Some people prefer to skip curd or substitute it with raw mango or tamarind pulp. This dish can be made into a gravy or be made into a semi-solidside dish. It is generally eaten with rice. The word "avial" is also used to denote 'boiled' or 'cooked in water' — this sense being derived from the way the dish is made.
Mythology
It is believed to have been invented by Bhima during their exile. According to the legend, when Ballav assumed his duties as the cook in the kitchen of Virata, he did not know how to cook. One of the first things he did was to chop up many different vegetables, boil them together and top the dish with grated coconut. There are mythological variations. Bheema is said to have prepared Avial, when there were unexpected guests for King Virata and he needed to serve meals for them. There were no sufficient vegetables to cook any single recipe for a side dish, so Bheema used whatever available vegetables to make a new dish, which came to be known as Avial. Another narrative version relates to the attempt made by Kauravas to kill Bhima. After poisoning Bhima, Kauravas tied Bhima and threw him to water. Kauravas also communicated that they saw Bhima drowning in water. With the completion of the days of mourning, a funeral feast was planned and preparation were underway. Unexpectedly, Bhima emerged from the water, rescued by the Nagas. With this, preparations for the feast was cancelled. However, Bhima was unhappy with this decision, and decided to mix all of the vegetables to prepare a new dish, that later became popular as Avial. Another myth that in the kingdom of thiruvithankor in Kerala there was a great fest held by the king. Every one in the kingdom came to eat so there was a shortage of curry to be served. But in the kitchen also stocks were less so when the king visited the kitchen he found that a lot of vegetables were wasted when they were peeled. The king ordered the cook to make a curry with this along with some other ingredients so Avial was born. The king also ordered it to be served as the first item. Hence Avial is the first to be served on a Sadhya.
