The tasty treats on offer at the Avarekai Mela at Sajjan Rao Circle draw everyone from the visiting NRI to the busy working woman

The annual Avarekai Mela, held on the narrow and bustling bylanes of VV Puram in south Bangalore, is a great leveller.u00a0

It's here that the Calvin Klein-clad young professional meets the dhoti-clad uncle over a plate of avarekai vadas, and the visiting NRI family digs into desi delights such as avarekai uppitu (bottled water close at hand) as the pater families pays their modest bill with a satisfied smile!

This unique mela, which is on till January 12 at Sajjan Rao Circle in VV Puram, celebrates the venerable history of the humble avarekai that transforms plebian food like uppitu into a gourmet fare.u00a0

While appetising aromas waft from tawas and kadas in makeshift hotels at the mela, there's hectic activity further up the street as bargain hunters inspect bushels of beans.u00a0

The beans come in all avatars snug in their pods, shelled and skinned. The 'skinned' effect is achieved from soaking the shelled beans in water for hours and deftly removing the outer covering to reveal the tender treat within. Thanks to enterprising shopkeepers, women who have little time to spare get their quota of the skinned beans (called avarebele in Kannada) minus the arduous labour.u00a0

The mela is the time when fancy is out and traditional is in. The measure used is the 'seru' (1 seru = 1.5 kg, approx). The avarekai sells at Rs 23 a seru, while the skinned beans sell at Rs 40 for a seru.

The avarekai mela is also an excuse for indulging in nostalgia. People of a certain vintage recall the leisurely afternoons in winter, spent shelling the beans while catching up on family gossip. The empty peels would not be discarded but fed to wandering cows in the neighbourhood! The leisurely afternoons have gone and the bovines are now deprived of their treat but we can still feast on this seasonal delight thanks to events like the avarekai mela.

For those who want to stock up on snacks, there's avarekalu mixture and fried avarekaalu the ideal accompaniment to a mug of chilled beer.u00a0

Avarekai, whose secrets were known only to people of the Old Mysore province, has now travelled from the sante (street market) to supermarkets, where the peeled and skinned beans are sold in ziplock bags.

"We've been selling avarekai for the last 2-3 years," says Rajesh Thakur of Spencer department store on M G Road.

Pick of the heap

>>Avarekai masala vada. The vadas just melt in your mouth. If only there was some coconut chutney, it would have been heavenly!u00a0
>>Avarekai dosa is another dish capable of winning the culinary equivalent of an Oscar. This soft and spongy dosa comes with a generous topping of spicy avrekaalu. It is served with avarekai sambhar.u00a0
>>Avarekai obbatu made from avarekai flour was the other winner. That the feisty beans could be turned into payasas and desserts had us drooling.

"This is the first time I've come to the mela, but I can't wait to taste the food. I've been waiting for the last 15 minutes for my avarekai dosa but I don't mind the wait," said Srinithi, a resident of Rajajinagar. She had travelled almost 12 km to enjoy the mela.

Avarekai Chutney

Ingredientsu00a0
>>1 cup shelled Avarekai mashed to a smooth paste
>>1 tsp oil
>>1/2u00a0 tsp garam masala
>>A pinch of turmeric powder
>>1 tsp lemon juice
>>Half a cup coconut milk
>>1 tsp chilli powder
>>5 green chilies
>>Curry leaves
>>1/2 tsp mustard seeds
>>Salt to taste