1/15/2016

All for the Avarekayi - Chennai - The Hindu

All for the Avarekayi

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Bengaluru, termed the city of boiled beans, celebrates the annual Avare bele mela
It is that time of the year again winter brings with it
the avarekayi (field beans of the lablab family) season.
The sprawling metropolis of Bengaluru still retains its
umbilical cord with its erstwhile self through the
Kadalekayi (ground nut) parishe of Basavanagudi,
followed by the Avarekayi season every winter.
Every traditional dish of a Bengaluru household will
turn into an avarekayi dish this season, offering a
mindboggling variety of dishes Avarekayi upma,
avarekayi rotti, avarekayi dosa, avarekayi sambar,
avarekayi vada and even avarekayi payasam. You
name it and an average Bengalurean will make it with
Avarekayi. Skinned beans double the variety on the
table further.

Have you bean there?The Avare bele melaPhoto: V

Sreenivasa Murthy

Take a stroll in any of the citys markets Gandhi

Bazaar, K R Market, Malleshwaram every second
person hawks avarekayi. Lazy to skin the produce? The
markets sell skinned, ready-to-consume beans at a
slightly higher cost. Crashing vegetable prices in
avarekayi season, as the beans take over the menu of
most households, has been an annual phenomenon in
the city for decades now.

The annual Avare bele mela that celebrates the local

culinary tradition of the region, held at Vasavi
Condiments, V V Puram, the traditional Southern part of the city, for the past 14 years, has now attained an
urban folklore status.
Avare jamuns, anyone?
Have you eaten an avare bele gulab jamun or an avare bele jalebi? Why not try an avarekayi idli?
If your mouth starts watering at the mention of these dishes, its time you make your way to the mela. It
features more than 50 avarekayi dishes, to savour which you need to brace the jostling of hundreds of
avarekayi enthusiasts. What makes the festival more attractive are the affordable prices.
The innovation of avarekayi dishes at the festival improves with every passing year. Avare bele gulab jamun
was quirky and great, said Chaitra, a techie who had been to the mela this year.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/all-for-the-avarekayi/article8108674.ece

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1/15/2016

All for the Avarekayi - Chennai - The Hindu

K S Geetha Shivakumar, the organiser of the festival, said that business was as brisk as every year in the past.
What adds to the contentment, she says, is supporting the avarekayi farmers from Magadi.
More than 200 avarekayi farmers , whose avarekayi is known to be the best of the lot, are part of the festival.
The season started late this year, due to unseasonal rains in the last quarter of 2015. But, they will be around
till early March.
Enough time to plan a trip to sample your share of the bean.
More than 200 avarekayi farmers, whose avarekayi is known to be the best of the lot, are
part of the festival

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/all-for-the-avarekayi/article8108674.ece

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