Monday 2 November 2009

Avarekaalu Akkitari Uppittu…Avarekalu Upma with rice and coconut…a speciality of Karnataka

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Avarekalu in Kannada, Mochai in Tamil, Lima/Hyacinth beans in English, Surati Papdi in Gujarati and  Popati/Vaal in Maharashtra are the few names that I know of. These  beans are very popular in Karnataka. I was introduced to them just prior to my marriage by my MIL. I had not realised then that these are very popular in Karnataka and a lot of preparations made with them. These are so popular there that in Bangalore a place where these are sold abundantly is called avarekalu square. You can see many women sitting there separating the beans from the pods and selling them on the roadside. They are normally abundantly available in the winter. These beans have a distinct flavor which is thoroughly enjoyable.smile_tongue
During my recent visit to B’lore I bought them and stored them in the freezer as these are not available here. S is a die hard fan of these seeds…I guess all Kannadigas are. I will be posting the recipes gradually as and when I cook with them.
This weekend when I made this Upma my first step was to call MIL and ask her to repeat the recipe. One big change in now her telling me the recipes is, she does not tell me any proportions unlike earlier when I would ask her for each and every ingredients quantity and ratio. I guess she has realised I have finally found a grip on Kannadiga way of cooking….
Though she has found a confidence in me, I am the one a little apprehensive preparing them as somewhere in my mind it’s there will I be able to make it as good as her?…will S like it? By God’s grace I have normally succeeded in making things as good as her, so S does not complain.Smile
The Upma turned out really tasty and to my understanding S overate the stuff so much that he ate very little for the lunch. It is one such preparation that can be had for breakfast, lunch, dinner or  brunch too, as it’s quite filling. I will  stop praising the dish now and give you the recipe…………
Ingredients
1 cup raw rice (any brand)
3-4 spoons pigeon peas/arhar dal
1 cup avarekalu
1 cup fresh coconut
3-4 tbsp chopped cilantro
7-8 green chilies finely chopped
2-3 strings of curry leaves finely chopped
oil to cook
2 tsp mustard seeds
3 tbsp mix of urad and chana dal (black lentil and bengal gram)
salt to taste
a dash of ghee for taste

Method
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Thaw the avarekalu.
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Grind together the rice and pigeon pea to a semolina like texture.
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Heat oil add the mustard, followed by the urad-chana dal, roast till golden brown in color. Now add the chopped chilies, curry leaves and cilantro.

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Add the rice-dal powder and saute them in oil for a few minutes.

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Add the avarekalu and mix.

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Add freshly grated coconut and mix properly. Add the salt and mix again.
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Keep about 4 cups of water to boil.

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Add water gradually and keep mixing, add water based on the quality of rice. I required about 3-3/4 cups of water. Cover and cook till done.
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Mix a large spoon of clarified butter/ghee before serving.
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Sending this to Steady Pulse…Beans and Legume recipe you can count on.pulse_logo and to MLLA-17 hosted by Sra at when my soup came alive and is the brainchild of Susan of The well seasoned cook,
to EFM - Variety rice series  conducted by SriLekha
and to
hosted by EC at Simple Indian Food
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37 comments:

Kanchan said...

Co-incidence or What !!!
I had upma yesterday morning without val papdi, and today afternoon lunch was val papdi sabzi !

Anyways this upma with valpapdi is totally new to me, will surely give it a try :)

chef and her kitchen said...

hmm..proper kannadiga dish haah?/
I know avarekallu have die hard fans in bangalore..
Even though I m not a great fan of it but I do relish those dishes sometimes...

Sushma Mallya said...

Hi pari...hope ur feeling much better now...This type of upma sounds really interesting,seems delicious too..will surely try when i find that averekalu

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

A very different rice item dear..looks so wonderful and comforting :)

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Looks wonderful... Something new too...

Sarah Naveen said...

This is a new recipe for me..Looks simply yummy!!!

Tina said...

Never heard of this..Nice recipe.

Chitra said...

new to me.nice step by step pics :)

Sailaja Damodaran said...

interesting....very healthy

Preeti Kashyap said...

hope u feeling better....glad u have become as good as your mil....carry on the good job! The upma looks really tasty and filling!

Ramya Kiran said...

Oh wow, this is one of my favorite. Unfortunately we don't get avarekalu here in Germany. Would love to try this when i'm back in Bangalore. Looks delicious! Our tastes definitely looks similar ;)

Anupama said...

Wow... what a great and authentic recipe! I'll will now search for the Tamil name of avarekalu :-)

Khaugiri said...

avarekalu upma sounds nice, will try this now. How r u feeling now?

Raje said...

Delicious Upma Pari and a nice and new combination. Will try this!

Poornima Nair said...

Upma looks delicious...I don't think I've ever had the beans before, but it sounds great.

Padma said...

I love averakalu upma so much but miss the fresh seeds here. Never tried with rice Pari always have eaten with sooji ... looks delicious and also nice filling. Will definitely try once I find them.

chakhlere said...

wow!! a very new and innovative dish.
Looks very filling and healthy!

Unknown said...

Looks yummy and unique recipe!!Nice presentation..:)

Priya Suresh said...

Such a delicious and new dish for me..looks yummy!!

Namitha said...

Interesting recipe..sounds healthy..:-)

pria said...

never tried out this.....looks very tempting

Unknown said...

this tuvar gives so much flavor to whatever you do..rice with it...wow..sounds gr8 :)

Vijitha said...

This dish is new to me. They look great. Gotta try it soon!

Nandinis food said...

I'm not fond of upmas but this one is tempting and delicious! I loved the way you mentioned the recipes with step by step methods!

Uma said...

never heard of this. upma looks so delicious.

Unknown said...

We do upma with rice & dal, but adding lima beans is really innovative idea. Nice dish.

Raks said...

very new to me! sounds too good :)

Srikitchen said...

wow1 looks delicious!

Pari Vasisht said...

Hi Guys, I am recuperating, glad to know that you liked the preparation.Do give it a try if you get hold of the avarekalu.

sra said...

I swear I left a comment here, right after you sent me the entry, God knows where it went!

EC said...

This looks so yumm...thanks a lot for participating

Monika Singh said...

Ohh great very Nice recipe i really enjoy your blog good job.

vinayak said...

I am also from south India and this blog has brought water in my taste buds really a goog blog

Aarti Nambiar said...

Really liked your blog worth sharing, very delicious

Foodies said...

WILL definitely try this I liked your blog very much. please do write more blogs

Trade show Exhibition said...

Well said, keep up the writing

PEACEMEDIA said...

Yummy look delicious, Thank you for sharing this.

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