Avarekalu Mixture | Hyacinth Beans Snack

As mentioned in my previous post, this Avarekalu mixture has also been sent by my mom.As a tradition, every year my Grandmom used to give these avarekalu(deep fried hitikida avare) to all her daughters. The tradition continued even now and with out fail every year my uncle sends a huge packet of this mixture to my mom.Right from childhood, I never developed a taste for this mixture though I like a few other varieties with Avarekalu like Pithikipappu, Avarekalu Usli, Avarekaalu Uppittu, Avarekalu Kadubu, Rotti, Saaru and few other varieties

This Avarekalu mixture is a famous variety in Bangalore and in particular in our community.Back home,during the avarekalu season, we used to buy several kilos of it every week and my mom used to prepare various varieties with it.The process of shelling the flat beans,separating the tender ones from the hard ones,soaking the hard ones for a couple of hours and remove the skin to get the skinned avare(it is called 'hitikida avarekalu/hitikbele' in kannada) is all time consuming but my mom never complained about the process and at times even we helped her doing this process.Now a days we easily get the shelled beans as well as the skinned beans in the market, which makes life easier. Making the dishes with them is like a breeze now.But I think, my mom still enjoys her age old tradition of shelling and skinning them until and unless it is an immediate requirement she does not buy the ready stuff from the markets.

Coming back to the Avarekalu mixture,it is usually served in our place after lunch when the whole family sit and chit-chat.Though I am not a fan of this mixture, I used to pick the spicy rice flour balls (palakayalu) from the mixture as I just love to munch them as they are really spicy and very tasty.That is the reason my mom sent me an extra packet of those spicy rice flour balls.I think its time I head to the recipe,here you go!!

Avarekalu Mixture | Hyacinth Beans Snack Recipe:

shelf life: 2-3 weeks

Ingredients:

4 cups of hitikida Avarekalu/Hyacinth beans(Shelled,soaked and the skin peeled)

1 cup Spicy Diamonds/Palakayalu(Rice flour balls)

1/2 cup Groundnuts

1/2 cup Dry Coconut pieces,cut into thin slivers

1/2 cup Cashew nuts,slit into two

1/2 cup Curry leaves

1 tbsp Red chili powder

1 tbsp Cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Oil,for deep frying the hyacinth beans

1/4 cup Oil for tempering

Method:

Preparing the Hyacinth beans:

• Soak shelled avarekalu in water for 4-5 hours or in luke warm water for 2 hrs.De husk outer skin and keep aside.This picture would give an idea how they are done.

to prepare Avarekalu mixture:

• Spread the dehusked beans on a clean cloth for some time to dry up the moisture.
• Heat enough oil in a deep kadai/pan to deep fry a handful of skinned avarekalu at a time.Once the oil is hot deep fry them on medium flame until they turn crisp.They would retain their slight green color and become crisp,do not fry them for long until they turn brown.Drain them and keep them aside.Remove all the oil from the pan and just keep 1/4 cup oil in the pan.
• Add the cumin seeds and let them crackle.
• Quickly add groundnuts and fry them on low-medium flame until they turn slightly red in color and the skin peels off slowly.
• At this stage add cashew nuts and dry coconut pieces and fry them until they turn in golden brown in color.
• Add curry leaves and fry them until they turn crisp.
• Now switch off the flame and add salt and red chili powder to it and give a quick stir.
• Quickly add deep fried Avarekalu and spicy Palakayalu(diamonds) to it and mix nicely until all are coated evenly with the spice mix.Check for the taste now and add if extra salt or red chili powder is needed.You need to adjust the spices while it is still hot and they blend nicely when it is hot.
• Once the mixture comes to room temperature,store it in an air tight container.

Serve it as an evening snack with a cup of tea.In our house it is ideally served after a meal which the whole family sit and chit-chat.

Notes:

1. You can even add mustard seeds while tempering or a mix of mustard and cumin seeds while tempering.
2. Adjust the amount of red chili powder as per your liking.
3. You can increase or reduce the amount of ingredients according to your wish and also adjust the seasoning accordingly.
4. This can be stored even up to a month.
5. Deep fried Hitikida Aavre(skinned hyacinth) can be stored up to 6 months in an air tight container and this mixture can be prepared using them when ever needed.

Also check out other Avarekalu recipes in my blog here.

• Avarekalu Benne Usli with Utta rotti
• Pithikipappu(Special Avarekalu dal) with Bilavalige(Rice flour Rotti)
• Avarekalu Kadubu(Tiny Rice flour balls snack with Hyacinth beans)
• Avarekalu Akki Tari(Rice Rava)  Uppittu(Upma)