I love yogurt based curries and this Instant pot Aviyal is a favorite at home. Aviyal is a traditional recipe from the southern part of India, specifically Kerala where vegetables like white pumpkin (Ash gourd), drumstick, plantains, carrots, yam etc are cooked in a coconut and yogurt based curry. They are cooked in coconut oil and have the flavour of curry leaves, cumin and coconut. It is one of the dishes served during onam sadhya.
I love to eat aviyal with adai (lentil based crepe) and it is a famous combination in Tamil Nadu. It also pairs very well with spicy vathal kuzhambu rice. This instant pot Aviyal also goes well with my Puliyodharai (Tamarind rice). If you havent tried this combination, I suggest you do it now 🙂 It tastes divine. The cool yogurt compliments the tangy and spicy tamarind rice beautifully. Since it has loads of veggies and not many masalas, I sometimes eat it as such like a salad.
You can see the aviyal paired with Puliyodharai (Tamarind rice) in the picture below
This recipe can be veganised by substituting the yogurt with a vegan alternative. I have tried adding forager’s cashew yogurt and they worked well in the recipe. Traditionally the yogurt added to the curry needs to be a little tangy. I find these vegan yogurts to have slight tanginess and hence work well in recipes like these. You could also use Coconut yogurt or almond yogurt instead.
The consistency of an avial is like that of a kootu (Not too runny or not too thick). But you could adjust the consistency as per your taste by adding water/ yogurt accordingly. Also the vegetables needs to be cut in big pieces for this recipe which means easy prep.
Here’s a pinnable image for you 🙂
So what all vegetables can we use in the recipe?
I love white pumpkins and it is one of my favorite vegetables. With pumpkin season here, I make this quite often at home and sometimes make this recipe with just pumpkins. It still tastes just as good. I have used only carrots, drumsticks, beans and white pumpkins for this recipe here. But you could also add raw banana (plantains), yam, potatoes.
Here’s a quick step by step collage of the recipe
It is such a simple recipe.
All you have to do is add a bit of coconut oil, couple of tablespoon of water, make a thick paste of coconut, green chillies, cumin, coriander and curry leaves. Add the veggies to the instant pot and dump the ground paste on top. Pressure cook it and when done, add whisked yogurt. The whole recipe can be done in less than 30 minutes.
If you do try the recipe and like it! Please rate the recipe and share your pictures on facebook or instagram 🙂 Do use the #cookingwithpree so I can see you and connect with you!
Vegetables like white pumpkin, carrots, drumstick etc cooked in a creamy coconut and yogurt based sauce in the instant pot
- 5 cups chopped veggies (White pumpkin, drumstick, carrots, beans, raw banana)
- 1/2 cup yogurt (whisked) vegans can use vegan yogurt instead
- 11/2 tsp coconut oil
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 to 3 sprigs curry leaves (optional)
- 1/4th bunch cilantro/ coriander leaves (optional)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- 2 to 3 green chilly (use as per spice level)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/8 tsp asafoetida
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 4 to 5 curry leaves
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Grind the ingredients given under to grind to a thick paste with little water (about 1/4 cup water) and set it aside
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Now add the oil, 2tbsp water to your instant pot.
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Add all the chopped veggies. I used white pumpkin, carrots, green beans and drumstick (Note that the veggies have to cut in big chunks)
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Add the ground paste on top of the veggies and add salt. Do not mix the paste with the veggies.
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Cook on manual high for 0 minutes and release pressure immediately.
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Let it cool down for a bit (say 5 to 10 minutes). Now add the whisked yogurt to the veggies and mix everything well. (Can add more yogurt if needed)
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Adjust salt and if adding tadka add it at this stage. To do the tadka, heat a tsp of coconut oil and when hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds crackle, add the mixture to the aviyal and mix well.
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Serve with some rice or adai (lentil crepe)
White pumpkin (ie winter melon or ash gourd) has a lot of water content. So don't add more water than mentioned to cook the veggies.
How long do you cook this for? The recipe says 0 minutes
Thanks
yes, you cook it only for zero minutes. There’s an option for setting the time to Zero in the IP. Which means the pressure will get built and then it needs to be cooked for the time we set it to. The time it takes for the pressure to build is not considered here. We can only set the cook time, which is zero in this case. Hope it makes sense.