Avial with chuvanna cheera | Avial with Red Amaranth

We are starting with this month's mega marathon. Well last year also I participated in the April month's mega marathon and it was fun baking. I am foreseeing the same fun and frolic this month too. Hopefully I am able to meet all the deadlines.

So this month I would be blogging about A-Z Kerala recipes. To start with A I am posting Avial - very important item in the kerala sadya. Yeah yeah I have posted the recipe of Avial already: so this is the summer speciality avial made with chuvanna cheera aka red amaranth, manga aka raw mangoes and murungakka alias drumsticks.

I have described the benefits of red amaranthas in my post cheera-morucurry.

Relish this with piping hot rice and papads.

• Coarsely grind the coconut along with cumin, chillies and shallots for a few seconds and keep aside. add very little water while grinding.
• Put the amaranthas stems in a pan along with turmeric and salt and just enough water to barely cover the stems. 
• Cover and cook on low heat till the stems are 70% done. Now add the drumstick pieces and cook for another 10 minutes or until the stems are completely cooked.
• Add the mango slices and let it cook till they turn mushy. 
• Add the chopped leaves (red amaranthas) and cover and cook for a couple of minutes till the leaves are cooked. This would take very few minutes since the leaves get cooked quickly.
• Add the ground coconut mixture stir well. Let it cook for a minute or two. Switch off the heat 
• In a kadai add the coconut oil and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard splutters add the curry leaves. Pour coconut oil tadka in the avial and mix well. Serve with rice.

• This avial can also be made with green amaranthas. But red one is the famous for this avial
• Instead of coconut oil tadka, we can also add plain coconut oil directly to the avial - the same was we do for traditional avial.