Kerala Style Avial with Coconut, Cumin and Curry Leaves
A Kerala style avial with vegetables steamed in their own moisture, a coarse coconut-cumin paste and coconut yogurt stirred in off the heat for tang.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 6
Kerala Style Avial with Coconut, Cumin and Curry Leaves is a vegan side recipe made with waxy potato, carrots, green beans. It takes 40 minutes of hands-on time, serves 6, and each serving has 241 calories, 4 g of protein and 7 g of fiber.
Avial is the centerpiece of an Onam sadya, and it lives or dies on two things: vegetables cut into even batons that hold their shape, and a coconut paste ground coarse rather than smooth so it coats instead of dissolving. Cooking the batons in barely any water — a scant half cup, lid on — steams them through without turning them to mush, and staggering the hard vegetables ahead of the soft ones keeps everything at the same doneness. Coconut yogurt replaces the usual curd and goes in off the heat so it stays creamy instead of splitting, with raw coconut oil and a last handful of curry leaves crushed over the top at the very end.
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 1 large277 gwaxy potato, peeled and cut into 2-inch batons
- 2 medium122 gcarrots, cut into 2-inch batons
- 6 oz170 ggreen beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
- 1 medium301 gseedless cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch batons
- 1 458 gJapanese eggplant, cut into 2-inch batons
- ¾ tsp2.3 gground turmeric
- 1¼ tsp7.5 gfine sea salt, plus more to taste
- ½ cup119 gwater
Coconut paste
- 1 cup60 gunsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 tsp2.1 gcumin seeds
- 2 28 ggreen chilies, stemmed (use 3 for more heat)
- 1 25 gshallot, peeled
- 10 2 gfresh curry leaves
- ½ cup113 gfull-fat coconut milk
To finish
- ½ cup114 gunsweetened coconut yogurt, whisked smooth
- 2 tbsp27 gunrefined coconut oil
- 15 3 gfresh curry leaves
Kit: Wide heavy-bottomed pot with lid, Small food processor or blender, Flat spatula
Tips
- Avial should be semi-dry and cling to the vegetables — if it looks soupy, simmer uncovered another minute or two before the yogurt goes in.
- Fold with a flat spatula using a lifting motion; a spoon stirred in circles will break the batons down.
- Raw coconut oil added at the end is the signature aroma of avial. Cooking it in instead loses most of it, so don't skip the off-heat drizzle.
- If curry leaves are hard to find, use them only where they matter most — in the finish — rather than substituting; there is no close stand-in for their aroma.
Swap ideas
- Use raw green plantain or ash gourd in place of the cucumber
- Closer to a traditional sadya avial; plantain needs an extra 3–4 minutes with the hard vegetables.
- Add 1 tablespoon tamarind paste instead of the coconut yogurt
- A sharper, fruitier sour note and a slightly darker color; stir it in with the coconut paste.
- Swap the eggplant for 6 oz drumsticks or asparagus
- Adds a grassier, more delicate flavor; add asparagus in the last 3 minutes only.
- Use 2 dried red chilies, crushed, instead of fresh green
- Warmer, smokier heat with less of the fresh chili brightness.
The numbers
Nutrition per serving
241kcal per serving
Everything else · 6 servings per recipe
- Saturated fat
- 13.7 g 69%
- Sugars
- 7.2 g
- Sodium
- 518 mg 23%
- Potassium
- 705 mg 15%
- Calcium
- 104 mg 8%
- Iron
- 2.6 mg 14%
- Vitamin C
- 23 mg 26%
- Vitamin B12
- 0.22 µg 9%
% Daily Value on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient; optional ingredients are excluded. Estimates vary with brands and portions.
Sources: Potatoes, flesh and skin, raw, Carrots, raw, Beans, snap, green, raw, Cucumber, with peel, raw, Eggplant, raw, Spices, turmeric, ground, Salt, table, Beverages, water, tap, drinking, Nuts, coconut meat, dried (desiccated), not sweetened, Spices, cumin seed, Peppers, jalapeno, raw, Shallots, raw, Curry leaves, fresh (Nutridex; from Gopalan et al. 1980, Nutritive Value of Indian Foods, and Wu Leung et al. 1972, Food Composition Table for Use in East Asia), Nuts, coconut milk, canned (liquid expressed from grated meat and water), So Delicious Dairy Free Unsweetened Plain Coconutmilk Yogurt (manufacturer label; serving 3/4 cup = 170 g, converted to per 100 g), Oil, coconut
Method
Cut every vegetable into batons roughly 2 inches long and 1/3 inch thick, keeping the potato, carrot and green beans in one pile and the cucumber and eggplant in another. Even cuts are what keep avial from collapsing into a mash.
Put the potato, carrot and green beans in a wide heavy pot with the turmeric, salt and water. Cover and cook over medium heat until the carrot is just yielding at the edge of a knife tip but still firm at the center, 8–9 minutes.
Add the cucumber and eggplant, cover again, and cook until everything is tender but the batons still hold their shape, 5–6 minutes more. There should be only a thin layer of starchy liquid left in the pot; if it looks dry, add 2 tablespoons water.
Meanwhile, pulse the shredded coconut, cumin seeds, green chilies, shallot and 10 curry leaves in a small food processor or blender with the coconut milk to a coarse, damp paste — think wet sand, not a smooth purée. Stop and scrape down twice.
Spoon the coconut paste over the vegetables, gently fold it through with a flat spatula so you lift rather than stir, and cook uncovered over low heat until the paste smells toasty and the mixture looks glossy rather than watery, 4–5 minutes.
Take the pot off the heat and let it sit for 2 minutes, then fold in the coconut yogurt. Adding it off the heat keeps it creamy instead of breaking into curds.
Drizzle over the raw coconut oil, crush the remaining 15 curry leaves between your palms and scatter them on top, and fold once. Cover and rest 5 minutes so the oil perfumes the dish, then taste and add salt before serving warm with rice.
Storage: Cool and refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. Reheat gently over low heat or in short microwave bursts — high heat will split the coconut yogurt. Refresh with a teaspoon of raw coconut oil and a few torn curry leaves before serving. Not suitable for freezing; the vegetables go watery.
Questions
- How much protein is in kerala style avial with coconut, cumin and curry leaves?
- Each of the 6 servings has 4 g of protein, 7 g of fiber and 241 calories, calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for every ingredient.
- Is kerala style avial with coconut, cumin and curry leaves vegan?
- Yes. It contains no dairy, eggs, honey or other animal products.
- How long does kerala style avial with coconut, cumin and curry leaves take to make?
- 20 minutes of prep and 20 minutes of cooking, so 40 minutes of hands-on time.
- Can you make kerala style avial with coconut, cumin and curry leaves ahead?
- Cool and refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. Reheat gently over low heat or in short microwave bursts — high heat will split the coconut yogurt. Refresh with a teaspoon of raw coconut oil and a few torn curry leaves before serving. Not suitable for freezing; the vegetables go watery.
- What can I substitute in kerala style avial with coconut, cumin and curry leaves?
- Use raw green plantain or ash gourd in place of the cucumber — closer to a traditional sadya avial; plantain needs an extra 3–4 minutes with the hard vegetables.. Add 1 tablespoon tamarind paste instead of the coconut yogurt — a sharper, fruitier sour note and a slightly darker color; stir it in with the coconut paste.. Swap the eggplant for 6 oz drumsticks or asparagus — adds a grassier, more delicate flavor; add asparagus in the last 3 minutes only.. Use 2 dried red chilies, crushed, instead of fresh green — warmer, smokier heat with less of the fresh chili brightness..
- Does kerala style avial with coconut, cumin and curry leaves contain gluten or nuts?
- None of the ingredients are a source of gluten, tree nuts or peanuts. That is a statement about the ingredient list, not a guarantee about the brands you buy — always read the labels if you're cooking for an allergy.
Nutrition is calculated from USDA data for every ingredient — how we work it out.
Published September 20, 2026 ·Indian