Avarekai Mela
Just like the bean, I hail from Bangalore! This bean is popular in Bangalore, Karnataka, India and is native to Africa and is cultivates in tropical regions. The hyacinth bean belongs to the species - lablab. It is a vine and grows up to six meters high in length. Its appearance ranges from a bright purple to a pale green. The bean is used in many dishes in Karnataka - sambhaar, bisi-bele-bhaat, upma, akki roti etc. “Initially, my mother used to prepare a lot of dishes using avarekai at home and sell them in her home store in Mavali. In those days, farmers would peel and sell avarekai in VV Puram, but the shelf life of avarekai once peeled was one day and the unsold stock would be discarded which was a huge loss. That is when she thought of an Avarekai Mela help the farmers. She called farmers from Magadi and started with seven to eight dishes, and it has expanded to over 100 dishes. We have about 600 farmer families who are involved.” - Swathi Shivakumar (daughter of Geetha Shivakumar)
The Avarekai mela was first held two decades ago and is an annual food fest celebrating the hyacinth bean to help farmers from districts like Magadi, Kanakpura, Kolar and Chintamani. At the fest, dishes like masala vada, sambhar, sohan papdi, honey jalebi, jamoons, pizza and even ice-cream feature the hyacinth bean!
