Avare Kaalu Akki Roti

This is a South Indian thalipit made from rice flour and studded with Avarekai. You have to be in Karnataka to experience the cultural thing about avarekai right from the purchasing to the cooking. Come winter months and the market is flooded with this bean. You will see the men and women haggling over the heaps to get the best price. To prove you are a true blue kannadiga one picks a handful of the beans rubs between the palms and smells the volatile oils before deciding on what price should it be bought for. The vendor will spontaneously tell you its fresh and organic and we know thats a fib. However if he says it you have proved your gourmet status.

Bagfuls are brought home. Then the household sits together to separate the beans from the pods with a lot of chattering and joking going on. The next few days it is endless avarekai recipes. It goes with veg, non-veg, dosa, roti may be a sweet too. Its my second year here and I have come to love the special avarekai sambar but first the roti recipe is shared here.

After cleaning all the avarekai where do the waste pods go. To the dustbin? No they are displayed in a pile thrown on the pathways leading to their home as if to proclaim that We are feasting on avarekai! Forgive the civic sense as most of the other times they have pretty rangolis there.

This recipe is very generously shared with us by Usha aunty my neighbour. In return she has asked for a print of this post as she has an aversion to computers and will never read it online. She being a school teacher in the past reflects in the way she explains to me everything about avarekai.

For the maharashtrians this is our very own vala che daane ghalun kelele tandlachya pithacha thalipith. Chaan lagta, Karun Paha.

Ingredients

1 cup boiled avare kaalu.
1 cup rice flour

1 teaspoon cuminseeds
coriander as much as you like

1/4 cup bit pieces of fresh coconut
water to mix just a little bit
salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients and keep ready. Oil a pan and line this mix in a thin layer on it. Cook till done. Add little more oil to separate it easily from the pan. Lo! the avare kaalu studded akki roti is ready to eat with chutney of your choice.

Warning: Do not ever stay around people eating too much avarekai. It is a notorious bean and everyone needs relief ;)