AVAREKAI UPMA | AVAREKALU UPMA | AVAREKAI UPPITTU | Mochai Upma | Hyacinth beans upma is a delicious and healthy breakfast recipe of Karnataka. It can be prepared using Avarekai or even with Hitikida Avarekalu, it is good to use fresh tender beans than the hard one. It goes well with coconut chutney along with kesari bath. Even we can make this upma without onion too.
Ingredients:
Rava, water, salt to taste, avarekai, chopped beans, chopped carrot, oil, mustard seeds, channa dal, urad dal, onion, tomato, dry red chilies or green chilies, few curry leaves, hing, grated coconut.
About Avarekai:
It is a seasonal vegetable. It is one of Karnataka’s most traditional food crops. Usually, Avarekai comes in the winter season and it is one of the popular and favorite vegetables of Bangalore and Mysore. Avarekai is high in fiber and protein.
Hyacinth beans in English and also known as Lilva Beans, Kannada (Avarekalu), Hindi (Aust, Surti Papdi), Chikudukaya/Anapakayalu in Telugu, Avarekai/Mochakottai in Tamil. It is grown between December and January. At this time, not only the quality but even the taste is at its best.
How do you clean Avarekai?
Firstly, remove the seeds from the pod-like you do with peas. And be careful to avoid worms you will find in it. Rinse 1 to 2 times and it’s ready to use for cooking.
Secondly even we can make recipes by soaking the avarekai seeds in a bowl with water.
Hitikida Avarekalu:
Avarekai or beans are double peeled, i.e., firstly the seeds are removed from the pods and then soaked in water for a minimum of 2 to 4 hours. Then squeeze out the seeds from the thin layer of coverage with help of your fingers. It is called HITIKIDA AVAREKALU.
Then remove the outer cover of the seeds and keep it aside. Now it is ready to cook. It is called HITIKIDA AVAREKALU. We can make a variety of dishes using hitikida avarekalu such as upma, tomato bath, gravy, and lemon rice.
Firstly soak dry Avarekalu for 8 hours or overnight and pressure cook it for 4 to 5 whistles, then it’s ready to make any sambar, curry, or side dish of your choice.
Mela:
Avarekai Mela is a festival that celebrates the different varieties of avarekai or broad beans or hyacinth beans, and Bangalore Bean. It’s good to know that Bangalore still loves its beans. Even a variety of dishes are made using avarekai as the main ingredient. Even you can shop and buy different varieties of these broad beans, fresh avarekai, avarekai seeds, and dry avarekai seeds. This melas are conducted to help the farmers and create awareness.
Dishes made using Avarekai:
Using these beans people make different variety of curries, and gravies according to their place or region such as upma or uppittu, sambar, rice bath, akki rotti, idly, dosa, side dishes.
How to make AVAREKAI UPMA | AVAREKAI UPPITTU:
AVAREKAI UPMA
Equipment
- 1 Large Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rava
- 3 + ½ cup Water
- ½ cup Fresh tender Avarekai
- ⅓ cup Beans
- ⅓ cup Carrot
- 1 Big Onion chopped
- 1 small Tomato chopped
- 2 Dry red chilies or green chilies
- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Chana dal
- 1 tsp Urad dal
- ½ tsp Cumin seeds
- Few Curry leaves
- Pinch of hing
- 2 tbsp Grated coconut
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat a pan and add in oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal,urad dal, onion, tomato, dry red chilies, few curry leaves and hing. Give a mixand cook till the onions becomes soft.
- Then add in fresh tender Avarekai or even we can add boiled Avarekai too.
- Then add in chopped beans.
- Later add in chopped carrot. Give a mix and then close the lid and allow it to cook. Add salt to taste.
- Close the lid and allow it to cook till the vegetables are 3/4th cooked. (Add 1/2 cup water to cook the vegetables).
- Add 3 cups of water and allow it to boil.
- Once the water starts boiling add in rava slowly and keep stirring continuously to avoid any lumps.
- In between give a mix.
- At the end add in freshly grated coconut.
- Finally, Avarekai Upma | Avarekai Uppittu is ready to serve.
Notes
- In the place of tender avarekai, even we can use boiled avarekai too.
- We can make Upma or Uppittu using Hitikida Avarekalu.
Even it tastes great.
