"Avial"

Avial, is my favorite dish. It is such a great way to use up left over veggies in your fridge and have a hearty healthy meal. In Chennai, where I am from, It is made during important festivals and occasions. I learn't to make this dish from my mom-in law, who makes it so well.

Here's a picture of the traditional banana leaf lunch at my mom-in law's. Avial is my favorite south indian and my preferred meal when I am looking for flavors of home and something wholesome and delicious. According to the Wikipedia the word Avial means assortment or mixture. Avial is a combination of cooked vegetables flavored with cumin, coconut and green chillies. It is a simple but exotic dish !

I wanted to show you a few pictures of my trip to India. Vegetable shopping in India is exhilarating with all the different colours and sounds. Here is a picture during the harvest festival of "Pongal", where fresh sugar cane and turmeric are available in plenty.

Vegetable shopping at Mylapore during Pongal

The lamp light for Pongal

This year I celebrated Pongal at mom-in-laws and we made sweet and savor pongal, avial, sambar and rice. As a part of the celebration we even light the traditional lamp with ghee ( clarified butter).  There is so much beauty in these simple things and staying here in the US now, I really appreciate the happiness that lies in doing simple stuff back home in India.

Lets get on with the recipe for Avial now:

Ingredients:

Vegetables - Raw banana, green beans, potatoes, peas, carrots, edamame, egg plants, cucumbers, drumstick, chayote ( a combination or all , the more the better).

Fresh coconut grated or frozen grated coconut - 1 to 1 1/2 cups depending on the amount of veggies

Chillies - Serrano/Jalapeño 1 or 2 acc to taste.

Coconut oil - to taste

Cumin - a spoonful

Yogurt - Greek or any non-flavored yogurt


Cut the vegetables into long thin slices of equal length. Take a pot filled with water and first add the vegetables that take longer to cook, green beans, carrots, edamame, drumstick, chayote as they take longer to cook. Add salt and close the pot and let it cook for approx 10 mins. Then add potatoes, raw banana, peas, egg plant and cucumbers. Cook for another 10 mins if its not yet done let it cook till its done.

In a food processor or blender, add grated coconut, cumin and sliced chillies, and blend till combined. Now add little water and blend again, till everything is a paste.

Once the veggies are done, strain the veggies and keep aside. In a mixing bowl, add the veggies, coconut paste, coconut oil and keep aside.

Just before serving, add the yoghurt.

Enjoy with roti or rice.

Broccoli Stem Chips + A Campaign to Inspire Action

This post is dedicated to the Bloggers Against Hunger Campaign.

We are working collectively to raise awareness about the hunger issues in America. In America, where food is available in plenty it is an irony that 1 out of 5 kids go without proper food everyday. Today, I urge you to take action and play a small but significant role in solving the hunger problem in America. Here's what you can do

• Click Here to write to your Representative, Senator or elected official emphasizing that you want to end hunger in America by maintaining and prioritizing anti-hunger initiatives in Congress.
• I also encourage you to watch " A place at the table" with your family and friends to spread more awareness of this issue. It is available online on youtube.

In my effort to find budget & health friendly recipes, I decided to try something different by using stuff in our kitchen which we discard and never use. Broccoli stems for example have been one item in my list that usually land up in the trash. So I decided it was time to look into what I could do with those stems. Surprisingly there are many options. I liked one which was a quick and easy snack - Broccoli Stem Chips. These chips are best if eaten fresh out of the oven. It does not cost anything as you are using left overs and pantry staples.

Ready to eat broccoli stem chips

Sliced broccoli stem

Broccoli Stem Chips:

Ingredients:

Broccoli stems
1 Egg
Splash of milk
Bread crumbs
Any kind of Paprika, Cayenne Pepper
Garlic Powder.

- Preheat oven to 350.

- Peel the Broccoli stems and slice into every thin slices.

- Prepare the egg wash, by breaking the egg and adding a splash of milk.

- In another bowl, add the breadcrumbs, paprika and garlic powder.

- Dip the slices in egg wash and then in breadcrumb mixture and place on baking sheet.

Ready to be baked.

- Bake in the oven for 10 mins or until golden brown.

- These are crispiest when eaten fresh out of the oven.

Chips ready to be eaten.

- Enjoy !!!

1 in 5 children struggles with hunger, What are we doing about it?

What would you do if you had $4 for food everyday? Would you be able to make a choice between eating healthy or getting a good deal for your money. Around 58 million Americans, have to make these choices everyday and around 16 million children live in families who struggle to put a meal on the table. It is astonishing that a country that produces so much food has to deal with problems like this. Sixteen million children will fill over 845 basketball arenas!!! ( Statistics from: nokidhungry.org).  That is a lot of children !

What can we do to help the situation ?? A Place at the table outlines, what the hunger problem in America is, It focuses on 4 real people affected by hunger and possible solutions. Here is a trailer for you to watch. The movie is available on youtube, you can watch it and invite your friends to watch it with you too.

Nicole Gullota, has started a movement , "Food Bloggers against Hunger". As a policy student, I am glad to be doing something to spread awareness on this issue. I have been fortunate to always have access to healthy food. When my sister and me where in school, every weekend before visiting the temple, my family used to hand out food packets to the homeless. It was a ritual we followed religiously for many years. 

For the whole of next week, my challenge will be to cook dinner with pantry staples and using ingredients with a budget of only $4 for 2 people. Why $4, you might ask. Americans who are on the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) program have a budget of around $4/meal, allocated to them. SNAP enables low-income individuals and families purchase food so that they can have a nutritious diet. 

I am sure if we all work together, we can create positive changes in the communities in which we live. I am going to end with this very empowering Henry Ford quote that says "One of the greatest discoveries a person makes, one of their greatest surprises, is to find they can do what they were afraid they couldn't do."