''Poṟiyal'' ( ta, பொரியல்) is a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

word for any fried, or sometimes sautéed, vegetable dish. It is called ''palya'' in Kannada, ''vepudu'' in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, and ''mezhukupuratti'' in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. It is usually made by shallow frying shredded or diced

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s and greens along with

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

s. The preparation would normally involve frying

mustard seed Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about in diameter and may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are an important spice in many regional foods and may come from one of three diff ...

urad dal ''Vigna mungo'', also known as black gram, urad bean, urid bean, mash kalai, uzhunnu parippu, ulundu paruppu, minapa pappu, uddu, or black matpe, is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative, the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the ...

, onions and then the main vegetable, and finally adding

turmeric Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...

, various spices, dried red chillis, and

coriander Coriander (;

. In

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, shredded coconut would be added as a dressing. All ''poṟiyal''s by default have some vegetables and lentils or greens, but many variations of the main vegetable exist. ''Poṟiyal'' serves as a side dish to a three-course meal of rice with sambhar, rasam and yogurt (curds in

Indian English Indian English (IE) is a group of English dialects spoken in the republic of India and among the Indian diaspora. English is used by the Indian government for communication, along with Hindi, as enshrined in the Constitution of India. E ...

). Poriyal is also commonly eaten with chapati. Murungakai Keerai Poriyal

Many other regional variations exist. Palya, a very common dish in the South Indian state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

is very similar to the ''poṟiyal''. Some variations of the palya involve use of

chana dal In Indian cuisine, ''dal'' (also spelled ''daal'' or ''dhal''; pronunciation: , Hindi: दाल, Urdu: ) are dried, split pulses (e.g., lentils, peas, and beans) that do not require soaking before cooking. India is the largest producer of pu ...

instead of

. Porutu in Andhra region is prepared in almost same manner, but the name has become alternate to Guddu porutu, egg ''poṟiyal''.

Etymology

The word poriyal refers to the cooking or preparation process involved in preparing the dish. The verb pori refers to

stir frying Stir frying () is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and th ...

, i.e., cooking in hot

wok A wok (; Pinyin: ; Cantonese ) is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan from China. It is believed to be derived from the South Asian karahi. It is common in China and similar pans are found in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as ...

with a small amount of hot oil. The word Pori as a noun refers to puffed rice or popcorn, which is prepared in a similar manner. Other Tamil words that refer to a dish based its cooking process are: * Aviyal - Boil * Kadaiyal - Grind / Mash of boiled lentils with water * Masiyal - Mash of boiled roots and leafy greens * Thuvaiyal - Coarse Mash of stirfried vegetables * Varuval - Deep Fry * Vathakkal - Shallow Fry * Vatral - Drying (in the Sun)

External links

Indian vegetable dishes Tamil cuisine Indian soups and stews {{India-cuisine-stub