Deeply entwined with the bliss of eating avarekai, the star of Bengaluru’s festival dedicated to the hyacinth bean, is sogadu – the signature aroma of the bean. Ask any avarekai lover and they will invariably mention that deep, rich scent. A few years ago, when a perennial strain of hyacinth beans (or field beans) was introduced in Bengaluru, the bean-crazy town was less than enthused because the new beans were flat on the nose. Given that almost 80% of what we know as taste is actually aroma, perhaps they were not entirely wrong to boycott this half-bean.
Avarekai has what some would describe as the aroma of Bengaluru. Between November and February, it is not unusual to see middle-aged aunties and wiry grandfathers holding handfuls of beans up to their noses, letting their olfactory senses guide their purchase of averakai. Is the sogadu strong? Does it linger on your fingers once you have dropped the beans? If the answer is yes, buy several kilos at once.
Archana Pidathala, author of Five Morsels of Love, writes about carrying bags of hyacinth beans to her grandmother in Hyderabad. While Andhra Pradesh grows its own share of avarekai, her grandmother had a special fondness for Bengaluru’s beans, for their fresh aroma. The key to great sogadu is apparently leaving the beans out in the open at night. The cold winter air lets the aroma reach its full-bodied peak and lends the beans an oily sheen.
The hyacinth bean is native to Africa, but has been cultivated in Asia since 1600 BC for its bean pods – sweet, nutty, buttery. Perennial vines, they are cultivated through the tropics, but can vary in appearance – some cultivars have white flowers, others purple or blue. The pod is long and the seeds are a pretty, pale green that gleam with a delicate sheen. Every part of the vine is edible – the leaves are sautéed like spinach, or eaten raw in a salad, the flowers are steamed, the root is boiled or baked. In some parts of the world, the seeds are used to make tofu. Its buttery texture is put to good use in Vietnam, where it is used in a sweet bean soup and in Kenya, where it is mashed with semi-ripe bananas for a sweet dessert.
It is telling that the dark green, purple-veined cultivar with violet and white blossoms, which is one of the most ancient cultivated crops, is grown as an ornamental plant in the US. In poorer countries like India and Vietnam, averakai is a major source of cheap, filling protein. The nimble, adaptive herb will thrive even in arid regions, blossoming in the tropics and really shining between the cooler months of November to February.
In India, the hyacinth bean is grown largely in the peninsular region of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. In Karnataka, its most doting lover, the bean is used in so many forms that it is rechristened when the outer peel is removed – hitaku-bele avearekalu, or the de-skinned bean. Avarekalu saagu, a Kannadiga speciality, is a spiced coconut-gravy, ideally eaten with akki roti. In the winter, the akki roti has an averakai version too – the beans are incorporated into the rice pancakes. The Maharashtrians make a spicy curry with field beans during the Shravan month of fasting. In Andhra, people chop up bean pods into a spicy gravy, which is paired with bajra bread and eaten in the season of Pongal.
The annual Avarekai Mela in Bangalore, now in its 17th year, sees over 200 farmers gather in the Vishweshwarapura area to sell heaps of farm-fresh beans. A winter fair that stretches over 18 days in January, the festival is organised by Geetha Shivakumar of Sri Vasavi Condiments to support the bean farmers. Close to 1,000 kilos of averakai are purchased directly from the farmers during each day of the festival. The city convenes here to celebrate the bean in its myriad forms. As you walk through the streets, you can eat at stalls making dosa, idli, upma, vada, even holige, Karnataka’s most popular sweet dish, with avarekai.
Avarekai dosa, like a thick utthapam with generous sprinkles of avarekai, is served with the signature spicy de-skinned-bean coconut curry, Hithikbele Saaru. Holige remains the all-time favourite: a roti stuffed with jaggery, dal and beans. The bean does well with desserts like payasam, so avarekai jalebis, jamuns, barfi and laddoos have become common too.
The wily bean has endeared itself to communities less familiar with its charms – the sales of avarekai nipattu, a deep fried South Indian snack and avarekai pani puri, a Bangalore twist to a classic North Indian snack, speak for themselves.
Another delicious preparation sees the beans cooked with onions, poppy seeds, fresh coconuts and spices, served with hot, puffed pooris. Tangy chitranna, or lemon rice with grated raw mango, is elevated to a dish of buttery decadence with the addition of tender avarekai beans. A friend who lives in the US and feels the call of the bean every winter, searches her local grocer’s and organic farmer markets with an increasing anxiety around November. Eventually, frozen beans are unearthed and she returns home to savour an annual meal with avarekai dosa, ghee and gooseberry pickle.
The hyacinth bean is full of nutrients which enhance health and prevent disease. Its traditional uses vary from China to Rwanda: it is used to treat illnesses as diverse as heart ailments to nose bleeds. In Africa, it is the staple diet of nursing mothers, for its high nutrient content, with minerals, vitamins and lipids that are antifungal, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. Simply put, this bean is great for brain health, cardiovascular functioning, and cancer prevention.
Nandita Iyer, a Tamilian blogger, writes that avarekai is something she has grown to love only as an adult. In her blog, Iyer shares the recipe for an Avarekai Poriyal, cooked with fresh coconut and urad dal, best paired with rasam and rice for a quick and delicious lunch.
It took me a while to catch the avarekai fever too, but my mother took to it like a local from the minute she moved to Bengaluru. Every December, the nutty aromas of hyacinth bean fill the house, and I know what’s cooking before I walk in the door. When it is avarekai season, she puts it in everything – from potato curry to rice pulao, even in pork. In a rabidly carnivorous household, she would tempt us with a mincemeat curry, the bean’s buttery texture perfectly marrying with the aromatic meat. With light phulkas to mop up the gravy, we would clean out the stew, avarekai and all, unwittingly joining the city in its mealtime sonnet to the bean.
This is my mother’s recipe:
0.25 kilo avarekai, peeled and skinned
0.25 kilo mutton, minced
2-3 green chillies
2 small onions
2 tomatoes
1/4 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
In a heavy-bottomed pan, fry the onions and ginger-garlic paste with tomatoes
Add in the mince and fry till brown
Add in the chilli powder, turmeric, jeera, and garam masala and fry gently
Pressure cook for 5-6 minutes
Allow the steam to release and remove the lid
Now add in the avarekai beans
Cook till the beans are tender and the mince gravy reaches a thick consistency
Anisha Rachel Oommen is a food writer and co-founder of The Goya Journal, a publication focused on culinary storytelling.
