Avial Recipe | Pongal Recipe

Vegan Avial Recipe without Curds

Most avial recipes call for curds. If you're wondering how to make avial without curds, peanut curds works even better!

Avial! Mixed vegetable stew in rich nut-based gravy, a rare non-spicy dish that totally satisfies the South Indian palate.

While we prepare the dish throughout the year, in some cultures it is a part of the menu for Makar Sankranti. With freshly harvested vegetables and rich nut-based gravy, it is a festive dish!

Most avial recipes call for curds. If you're wondering how to make avial without curds, peanut curds works even better! In this recipe, we have used finely ground peanuts. When this is mixed in the stew, it makes for a divine tasting dish!

Enjoy this festive Pongal dish!

Whole Food Plant Based Avial Recipe

Course: Course 2 (Vegetable Dish) and Side Dish for Course 3 (Grain Dishes) at Lunch & Dinner Meals; Pongal Recipe
Cuisine: Tamil Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Cook Time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 Raw Banana
100 g Avare Kaalu
3 Carrots medium sized
200 g Beans
100 g Peas
40 g Peanuts
1 tsp Jeera Powder
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
4 tsp Miso Paste
1 pinch Asafoetida / Hing
2 tbsp Coriander Steams & Leaves chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Peel, string and cut vegetables into long, 1 inch pieces. Put all of them together with peas in a vessel with just enough water to cover the vegetables and cook with closed lid.
2. Dry roast peanuts until they are just cooked, but not browned.
3. Once cooked, grind peanuts to a fine paste with just enough water, jeera powder, black pepper powder, lemon juice, miso paste and hing, and mix into avial.
4. The dish should be like a stew, but not too thin. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve fresh with Ven Pongal!

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for the Best Avial Recipe

1. Add cooked peanut mylk or even peanut curds to make avial thicker.
2. Add a slit green chili if you like it spicy.

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Avial Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why not dairy? Dairy products have been found to be associated with increased risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, asthma, PCOS, and heart disease. We can still enjoy our milk, cream, and butter though - as long as they are made from whole plant foods!
3. Why nuts instead of oil? Whole foods are healthier than processed foods. When nuts are pressed and oil is extracted, fiber and phytonutrients are lost, along with many other nutrients. Therefore, whole nuts are much healthier than oils, whether cold-pressed or refined.