Vella aval means jaggery sweetened flattened rice flakes and that’s it…there’s not many more ingredients other than those mentioned – that’s how simple this recipe is. Aval (rice flakes in Tamil) was a humble breakfast cereal before we got flooded with today’s sugar-loaded monstrosities. It is also referred to as beaten rice, Atukulu (Telugu), Chivda or Chewda (Hindi), Poha (Marathi). You can eat it raw as it is easily digestible. This unique characteristic comes from the way it is made. Aval is made by parboiling rice which is beaten thin and dried for about a couple of days. This process allows the outer layer of the grain to ferment, giving it some probiotic bacteria and Vitamin D along with the benefits of rice. It is therefore considered a healthier alternative for breakfast than regular rice which is the staple food in South India. Indian cuisine has a variety of other dishes that use aval as well – e.g. aval payasam (a South Indian dessert), aloo poha (a kick-ass snack popular in Maharashtra), aval upma with lemon or tamarind, and chivda mixture to name a few. Without further ado, let’s dive into our favorite – Palakkad style vella aval flavored with cardamom…

WHAT YOU WILL NEED for VELLA AVAL

Ingredients

Note: 1 cup = 235 ml

1. 2 cups thick aval (flattened rice flakes)
2. 2 Tbsp. water
3. 1 ½ cup jaggery, crushed
4. 2 Tbsp. ghee
5. 15 cashews, broken in halves lengthwise or 5 almonds, blanched and slivered
6. ½ cup coconut, grated
7. ½ tsp. cardamom powder

Kitchen tools

1. Colander
2. Medium size bowl
3. Plate
4. Small saucepan
5. Flat bottom pan
6. Tea strainer
7. Flat ladle

PREPARATION – VELLA AVAL (with step-by-step photos)

Step 1  – Take 2 cups thick aval in a colander and rinse it under running water. Make sure every rice flake is wet and let the excess water drain. Place the washed and drained aval in a bowl and close it with a plate and rest it for a minimum of 30 minutes.

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If you are in a rush, after 5 minutes, sprinkle a hand full of water over the washed and drained aval set in the bowl. This will help aval soak in the moisture quickly and it will be ready in less than 15 minutes.

Thick aval takes about 15 minutes while thin aval needs no soaking. You can rinse it and start preparing right away.

You will know that the aval is ready when its puffed up and fluffy and when the aval can be lightly mashed between your fingers.

I prefer resting the aval for an hour when I make this recipe, as a longer resting time gives a soft texture to the rice flakes when they are candied with jaggery. When you add sugar or jaggery to any cooked grain, you cannot mash the grain any further. So making sure the grain is soft to your preference before adding jaggery, is key.

Step 2 – While the aval is soaking, set a flat bottom pan on medium heat, add 1 Tbsp. ghee and roast 15 cashew halves until they are golden brown and set the cashews aside in a plate

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Step 3  – Set a small saucepan on medium heat, add 2 Tbsp. water and melt 1 ½ cup jaggery over medium heat. When the jaggery melts completely and starts to froth, remove it from the heat

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Melting jaggery and filtering it helps to remove any dirt that might be in the jaggery block. If you are used to buying a specific brand of jaggery that does not have dirt, you can go ahead and skip this step for filtering – that way, you don’t need a separate saucepan to melt jaggery – you can melt jaggery and add aval to it in the same pan

Step 4 – Switch to the flat pan, get it back to medium heat, add the aval from step 1 and strain the jaggery syrup into the pan of aval. Mix well, until well incorporated

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Step 5  – Add ½ cup grated coconut, give it another good mix, and cook for about 4 minutes until the moisture in the bottom of the pan evaporates

Step 6  – Turn off the heat, add ½ tsp. cardamom powder, and remaining 1 Tbsp. ghee. Mix one last time and garnish with the toasted cashew nuts

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Step 7  – Enjoy your sublime Vella Aval 😋

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In South India, Vella Aval is specially made for the birthday of Lord Sri Krishna. That day, “Krishna Jayanthi”, is one of the more popular religious festivals in India. It is also popularly known as Janmashtami (Janma = Birth, Ashtami = 8th day of lunar calendar) that usually falls in the months July-August. Sri Krishna is the 9th avatar (incarnation) of the Hindu deity, Lord Vishnu.

Stories have a powerful impact on the readers and especially children. Hindu literature is filled with innumerable stories for us to understand the principles of life. In the 10^th Canto of “Srimad Bhagavatam” (an important text of Hinduism), there is a story of Sri Krishna and his friend Sudama. It’s also a story of the humble Aval…

Sudama and Krishna were childhood friends. Sudama was from a poor family of priests, while Krishna, a prince by birth was born to Devaki and Vasudev (King of Yadu dynasty) and was raised by his foster parents, Yashoda and Nanda (chief of the cowherder community in the village of Gokul in northern India). Later, Krishna became king of Dwaraka (Gujarat, India) and Sudama remained a poor priest observing religious duties.

Sudama’s wife repeatedly begged him to visit his old friend, Krishna and ask him for some financial assistance. With great reluctance, Sudama agreed to visit Krishna. It is customary to give something to the host, so Sudama borrowed a handful of parched rice flakes from his neighbor and packed it in a cloth bag to give it to his dear friend, Krishna.

When Sudama arrived at the entrance of Krishna’s palace, the doorkeepers did not allow him to enter into the palace due to his poor attire. But when Krishna heard about the arrival of his dear friend, he personally received Sudama and played the perfect host. They spent the day together remembering cherished childhood memories. This unchanged behavior of his friend moved Sudama and he decided not to ask for any favors for which his wife had sent him. He was also very embarrassed to offer the bag of flattened rice. But Krishna insisted on seeing what was in the bag and was thrilled to find Aval in it and enjoyed every bite of the humble rice flakes.

Sudama returned home without asking for any favors but was shocked to find his hut now transformed into a palatial house and to find his wife and children dressed in elegant clothes. His wife told him, “Look at the power of Krishna’s might – he has rid us of our poverty and miseries.”

This story reinforces that true friendship and love are not built on materialistic things, but on mutual respect and admiration for each other!

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