Snacks & Starters/ VIDEO RECIPES

AVAREKALU MIXTURE / HYACINTH (FIELD) BEANS SNACK / VAAL NAMKEEEN

It’s raining avarekayi everywhere !! Come winter and the avarekayi season is full on..  every meal in a Kannadiga home will have at least one item made of Avarekalu ; specially Mysore – Bangalore region. This season i am hoping to share with you all as many recipes as possible using this beans and to start with here’s my all time favorite crunchy munchy very addictive ” Avarekalu Mixture / Hyacinth ( Field ) Beans Snack “.

Avarekalu Mixture Video :

Wondering what this ” Avarekalu ” is ?? Well in English its known as ” Hyacinth beans / field beans / flat beans / lima beans “, in tamil ” Mochai ” , In Gujarati  ” Surti Papdi Lilva ” , in Marathi ” Vaal ” .. so on…. These beans have a distinct taste and flavor which gets transferred to the dish in which it is used.

field beans

During Avarekai season, my mom prepares many dishes of it like Usli,saaru,sagu, rotti,dal, rotti, upma ,pulao etc.During my recent visit to my mom’s place i enjoyed avarekayi  dishes  almost everyday and clicked a few pics too for you all to enjoy…out of them my mom’s special Avarekalu mixture is one.I am sure many of you must have tasted this mixture / seen it in many Bakery and condiments in Karnataka.Making them at home is not at all difficult but yes time consuming.But now that we get de skinned hyacinth beans making the whole process simple. Do try them i am damn sure , you will love it….Here we go….

AVAREKALU MIXTURE

Smitha Kalluraya
Course Snack
Cuisine karnataka

Ingredients
 

  • 2 Cups Avarekalu / Field Beans/ Surti Lilva, De skinned
  • 1 Cup Thick Beaten rice /Poha/Avalakki, (optional )
  • 1/4 cup Groundnut / Peanut
  • 1/4 cup roasted gram / chutney dal
  • few Cashew Nuts -Almonds- raisins, as much you wish ( optional )
  • 1/4 cup Dry coconut / Copra, Thinly Sliced ( optional)
  • few Curry Leaves
  • 2 tsps Chilli Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric/ Haldi
  • to taste Salt
  • Oil to deep fry

Instructions
 

Deskining the hyacinth beans ( Hitikavare / Chilkavare ) 

  • Separate the seeds from the fresh hyacinth beans.
  • Soak peeled beans in water for 3-5 hours./ overnight
  • Discard water from the beans and hold each bean between two fingers and press gently . The outer skin will slip off leaving behind only the inner seed. Continue the process for all the seeds.
  • Leave the de skinned hyacinth beans on a tissue paper or kitchen towel for 15-20 minutes to remove moisture.

Making of Mixture

  • Keep enough oil in a thick bottomed Kadai / pan to deep fry the beans. Once the oil is hot , fry peanuts , roasted gram , fry coconut , cashews , curry leaves till they are crisp and aromatic .
  • Once done drain them on a sieve vessel .
  • Next deep Poha. Add poha in steps only when oil is very hot . Deep fry poha for just a few seconds till they puff up .Drain well. Once done drain them on a sieve vessel .
  • Take a handful of hyacinth beans and carefully drop them to oil .Deep fry in medium low flame till crispy. You will notice that , initially the beans would be in the bottom of the kadai and as it is done it will start floating on top.
  • Once done drain them on paper towel and keep aside. Follow the same procedure for frying rest of the hyacinth Beans in batches.
  • Now take all the fried ingredients in a wide mixing bowl . Add turmeric,hing,salt and chilli powder. Crush the curry leaves .Mix everything well .Taste test and adjust .
  • Avarekalu / hyacinth beans mixture is ready. Store it in air tight container once it comes to room temperature .Relish it for next few days with a cup of coffee/ tea .Can be stored upto a month .

Video

Notes

A )There is no rule for the measurements in this recipe. If you like peanuts more then add it more.Feel free to plus or minus the ingredients of your choice.
B) Avarekalu mixture can be prepared only with the de-skinned beans.If with skin, when you drop in oil there are chances of them bursting.
C) The most time consuming part in this mixture is shelling and deskinning the hyacinth beans.But now a days you get ready shelled as well de skinned beans. If you get that half of your work is reduced.
D) If you want you can omit poha and just serve the fried beans with nuts.
E) If you don’ t have hyacinth beans you can replace it with any other pulses.

You Might Also Like

9 Comments

  • Reply
    beena stephen
    December 29, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    wow…great!!! tempting picture

  • Reply
    marudhus kitchen
    December 29, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    Crunchy..munchy..snack for this season

  • Reply
    Ree Kasirajh
    December 29, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    Omg!!! I love this…wish I could just have the whole batch now!!!

  • Reply
    Shobha Jayasimha
    December 29, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    Lovely. I also add ing and a little amchur poders to the mixture. It tastes good.

  • Reply
    Sathya Priya
    December 29, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    I just observed that this is available suring sankaranthi season..I love all of the recipes with this beans .Yummy

  • Reply
    Meena Kumar
    December 29, 2014 at 10:26 pm

    Oh my I love avarakkai never knew about the mixture though. Looks really yumm..

  • Reply
    Sowmya Sundararajan
    December 30, 2014 at 1:01 am

    I ve never tasted this Mixture Smitha. Nice one. A good way to add some protein to your munchies.

  • Reply
    Vibha Sp
    December 30, 2014 at 4:48 am

    delicious snack luks gud

  • Reply
    Dr Anagha Bhat
    September 22, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    It was real mouth watering..Thanks so much for the recipe. Everyone loved it.

  • Leave a Reply

    Recipe Rating