Winter is the time to savour
some of the best local food, served hot and fresh, so this weekend,
you could head to the 15th edition of the Avarebele Mela, also known as
the Avarekai Mela, which began on Friday.
Avarekai or broad
beanshyacinth beans are an important produce of Karnataka, and the
annual mela has become a part of the city's culture along with others
such as the Kadalekai Parishe of Basavanagudi, which gives peanut
growers a chance to showcase their produce. Hosts of avarekai growers
from Hunsur, Magadi, Mulbagal, Nagamangala and Bengaluru come to the
Avarekai Mela to sell their produce without middlemen.
“The main attraction is the variety of dishes prepared using avarekai,“ says Geetha Shivakumar, the festival organizer.“Young people are attracted to fast food. We want them to know tasty snacks can be made using local, seasonal ingredients such as avarekai. Visitors can try out over 20 kinds of snacks and condiments made of this bean.'' In Karnataka, the bean is made into curry (avarekalu saaru), salad (avarekalu usli), added to upma (avarekalu uppittu), and as a flavouring to akki rotti. Sometimes the outer peel of the seed is taken out and the inner soft part is used for a variety of dishes. This form is called `hithakabele avarekalu', which means “pressed hyancinth bean“. According to Shivakumar, this time the mela will have dishes like hithakavare saaru (rasam made with the pressed bean), and many inno vative dishes not traditionally made with it, such as dosa, paayasa, holige, chikki, cake, jamoon, and flavoured snacks such as pepper hithakabele, pudina hithakabele, and garlic hithakabele.
“A special attraction this year is hithakavare halwa and hithakavare honey jalebi. We expect nearly 2,000 people to visit the mela daily. Nearly 3 to 4 tonnes of avare beans will be sold during the mela,“ says Shivakumar. The bean is not only a good source of energy (100 gm = 50 kCal) but also contains many B vitamins, and is high in elements such as calcium and magnesium.
“The main attraction is the variety of dishes prepared using avarekai,“ says Geetha Shivakumar, the festival organizer.“Young people are attracted to fast food. We want them to know tasty snacks can be made using local, seasonal ingredients such as avarekai. Visitors can try out over 20 kinds of snacks and condiments made of this bean.'' In Karnataka, the bean is made into curry (avarekalu saaru), salad (avarekalu usli), added to upma (avarekalu uppittu), and as a flavouring to akki rotti. Sometimes the outer peel of the seed is taken out and the inner soft part is used for a variety of dishes. This form is called `hithakabele avarekalu', which means “pressed hyancinth bean“. According to Shivakumar, this time the mela will have dishes like hithakavare saaru (rasam made with the pressed bean), and many inno vative dishes not traditionally made with it, such as dosa, paayasa, holige, chikki, cake, jamoon, and flavoured snacks such as pepper hithakabele, pudina hithakabele, and garlic hithakabele.
“A special attraction this year is hithakavare halwa and hithakavare honey jalebi. We expect nearly 2,000 people to visit the mela daily. Nearly 3 to 4 tonnes of avare beans will be sold during the mela,“ says Shivakumar. The bean is not only a good source of energy (100 gm = 50 kCal) but also contains many B vitamins, and is high in elements such as calcium and magnesium.
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