Funny side of "Theeyal"

"Theeyal" : well this dish in my life has a funny background...I have to share with you those details before coming to the recipe

Well I come from North Kerala and hubby from South Kerala...these two places in Kerala are like India and Pakistan. It always surprises me as there could be such differences in the same state
When I told my parents that I was in love, they were quite ok with it, coz they always  knew that I never understood the concept of arranged marriages (I still don't!)...but drama began when they came to know that he is from South Kerala...oh my god, they said it would have been better if you had brought a north indian or a foreigner...can you beat that?here I got them a nice sweet malu nair boy and this is what I had to hear...life is funny!
But then thanks to god grace, families met and finally we tied the knot
Today my parents love "A" more than me and he is the star of our family. My grandparents adore him. Touch wood, I was lucky and so was he!
In "A's" case also the same thing happened, not that they wanted any north indian or foreigner but yes they preferred someone from South Kerala
However lady luck kissed us and we are together

I never used to cook before my wedding..well I used to but was not into regular cooking
So in our initial days of marriage when "A" told me that he felt like having theeyal...I was in my wit's end
I had never heard of this dish (its a south Kerala dish)
That time I did not have a laptop and after coming from office, when "A" said this, I kept pronouncing Theeyal Theeyal...and then I thought to myself, "well it sounds like a dry sabzi! So I asked him kiska theeyal, and he said ladies finger..well I thought oh he wants okhra sabzi, maybe thats what they call in Thekku (South Kerala)
I made the sabzi in a jiff and had other dishes like Rice, Sambar etc
So "A" sits in the dining table and I serve Rice, Sambar and then he says where is theeyil, I tell him its next to him, he looks at bhindi ki sabzi and says that I dont have theeyal, its some sabzi...I asked him, doesnt theeyal look like this? and then he laughs, laughs and laughs...this is one of the incidents which he and his family still pulls my legs with :)
When my amma (mother in law) visited us for the first time, first thing she taught me was theeyil. But somehow I never liked this dish and because of that even after preparing for so many times, I never got it right and so avoided this dish for a long time
Only when amma (my mil) used to visit our place, was this dish prepared at home
Well this year, since I have stopped going to office and am working from home...I have started spending more time in the kitchen and to me cooking is a stress buster, especially when I have loads of projects to complete.After living with "A" for six years, I have started liking dishes from South Kerala
This year for a change I prepared theeyal once in a week and waited for "A's" reaction, he would have and saw Wow but last week he gave the best compliment. he said I can safely say that your theeyal has reached Mavelikara and immediatly called up amma. She was very happy to hear that
Phew...I was soooo happy...Finally I have done it...it took me so many years but better late than never!
So here I am sharing with you this dish named Theeyal!
Special thanks to Amma for teaching me this recipe

Ingredients :
Grated Coconut-1 cup
Coriander-1 tsp
Red chilly powder-1tsp
Turmeric Powder-1tsp
Fenugreek Powder- 1pinch
Vegetable Pieces or Kashnams could be Shallots//Cherriya ulli sliced- 10-12 or or Ladies finger-1/2 cup or Beans- cut into long pieces, 1/ 2 cup
You could choose any one of the above, my personal fav is small onions :)
Tamarind - Small lemon sized, place it in 2 cups of water
Oil as required
Salt to taste

Methodology
Take a dry pan and roast grated coconut for sometime, till it turns brown. and very crisp
Keep the stove in minimum so that you don't burn the coconut
Add all masalas, namely, turmeric, coriander and red chilly powder and keep dry roasting until the raw smell of masala goes off
Then take a dry mixer, please make sure that the mixer doesn't even have a drop of water
Blend the above in the mixer.
The paste will become thick and pasty and would be blackish browin in colour...you wont get this texture if there is even a drop in the mixie
Now taken a kadai, add 2 tsp of oil
Add the vegetables, fry them in low heat
If you are using shallots, then wait till it turns transparent
Add tamarind water to this. If you are using any other vegetable, wait for the vegetable to be done
Add salt and then a pinch of fenugreek powder
Now add the ground paste which you had prepared sometime back
After add the paste mix it well and simmer for 5 mins. You will see the gravy thickens
Switch off and serve it with hot Rice :)

I have got feedback that I should add photos of the dishes, as that helps so I promise, I will post the snaps of this recipe for sure in sometime :)