Onam is the occasion of preparing variety of traditional dishes.

Aviyal

Ingredients :

Cucumber – 1 cup

Snake Guard – 1 cup

Carrot – ¼ cup

Runner beans – ½ cup

Drumsticks - 2

Yam – 1 cup

Raw banana – 1

Grated coconut – ½ cup

Green Chilies – 5

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves

Coconut Oil- 3 tbsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Raw mango pieces

Salt according to taste

Method

Cut all the vegetables in 1 ½ “pieces. Grind coconut with green chilies and cumin seeds to make a paste. Heat a pan and pour coconut oil in it. Add to it all the vegetables and sauté them without adding water. When vegetables become tender, add salt and turmeric powder and mix them well. Now add banana and raw mango pieces. Cover the pan and allow the vegetables to cook. Then add coconut paste and curry leaves.

Tomato Rasam:

Tomatoes – 2

Water of Boiled Dal - 4 cups

Sambhar masala – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp

Asafeotida - a pinch

Red Chilies – 2

Gralic (grated) – 2 cloves

Peppercorn – 8

Cinnamon and clove powder – ½ tsp

Curry, mint and coriander leaves – 1 stalk of each

Sugar - ½ tsp

Tamarind – 1 strip

Salt to taste

Ghee

Method:

Boil tomatoes for about 3-4 minutes and keep aside. Take another pan and heat little ghee or oil and pour peppercorns and cumin seeds and roast a little till they start crackling. Grind them to powder. Roast chilies. Peel the tomatoes and mash them. Add roast chilies, leaves, all the spices, tamarind, salt and jaggery to the tomato pulp. Then blend it in a mixer. Add this to the water of the dal. Take small pan, heat little oil and roast mustard seeds, cumin seeds and the asafeotida and then add garlic to it. When these ingredients start spluttering, add this to prepared rasam mixture. Boil thios for 2-3 minutes and it is ready to be served with anything you like. You can serve it with plain rice, papad or as a spicy soup also.