Your favourite avarebele dish to cost more at this mela

Fried avarebele is among the delicacies the mela offers. Avarekai yield has come down drastically this year owing to the drought in the State.

Drought has cast its spell on the famed avarebele Mela of V.V. Puram that is scheduled to be held from December 22 to January 1.

While the organisers have promised 150 avarekai delicacies this year, they are likely to cost much higher than usual because the yield has come down drastically owing to the drought in the State.

“We have held 17 avarebele Melas so far. This year we have seen only 30 per cent of our avarekai requirement reaching us. This is a result of rain deficiency. The lack of misty mornings has also affected the quality of the produce,” said Swati K. Shivakumar of Vasavi Condiments, who has taken charge of organising the mela from her mother, Geetha Shivakumar.

While 2015 avarekai season began with hiccups, with excessive rain affecting the November produce, it picked up later with stock coming in till the end of January.

“We sold 20,000 kg of avarebele in myriad varieties last year, helping nearly 500 farming families who grow the beans for us in Magadi, Chintamani, Kolar, Mulbagal, Hunsur, and Chitradurga. Although we will still be dealing with the same quantity and the number of delicacies will also remain the same this year, the fried beans will be priced at nearly Rs. 700 a kg as against Rs. 350 last year,” said Shivakumar, the co-owner of the store. “This year, we have sourced the beans from Tumakuru, Devanahalli, Nelamangala, Malur, and Anekal, apart from the border areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,” said Mr. Shivakumar. “We are sourcing it for Rs. 50 a kg as of now, as against Rs. 25 last year. If we are lucky to get two spells of rain in the next 10 days, our pricing may get better,” said Ms. Swati, who plans to take the mela to Nagarabhavi and Malleswaram this time around.

The peeled beans are used in 80 per cent of the 150 dishes that are planned and created by Ms. Geetha. “Last year, we had avarebele jalebi on offer,” Ms. Geetha said, and added that this year’s mela would have a surprise sweet dish.

There will be 150 cooks in all at the mela. Specialist cook Kumar (32) from Kanakapura, who is popularly known as ‘Avare manushya’ will be serving up hot and crispy avarebele vadas. “I made nearly 1.25 lakh vadas at the last mela,” said Mr. Kumar.