Poriyal — Tamil Dry Vegetable Stir-Fry Technique (பொரியல்)

Tamil Nadu — a staple of Tamil Brahmin cooking and the daily Saivite temple kitchen

Poriyal is the South Indian technique for dry-cooked vegetables served as accompaniment to a full rice meal — different from the North Indian sabzi in that it always includes freshly grated coconut stirred in at the end and begins with a mustard-urad dal tempering. The range of vegetables used is broad (beans, carrots, cabbage, kohlrabi, raw banana), but the technique is consistent: finely cut vegetables are cooked in minimal water until just tender, the excess moisture is driven off over high heat, then the mustard-curry leaf-dried chilli tempering is poured in, and the fresh coconut is folded through. The coconut should not be cooked — it is added off heat to preserve its fresh, slightly sweet quality.

• The minimal-water stir-fry with coconut finish parallels the Sri Lankan mallung preparation and the Malay sambal-coconut vegetables technique.

Served as part of a rice meal (sapad) with sambar, rasam, kootu, and yoghurt. Always served at room temperature, not hot.