Field beans (hyacinth beans)

सेम के बीज · ಅವರೆಕಾಳು · மொச்சைக் கொட்டை · చిక్కుడు గింజలు

Fresh Produce

The whole of a Bengaluru winter — uppittu, huli, nuggekai saru, akki rotti and a mela devoted to it.

What to know

The bitterness is the flavour, not a fault. Some houses peel the skin off each bean for hitikida avarekalu, which is sweeter and milder and takes an evening; unpeeled is the everyday version and tastes more of itself.

Choosing it: Buy them in the pod and shell them yourself if you can — shelled beans sitting on a tray dry out and go tough by afternoon. The pods should be fat and squeak against each other.
Storing it: In the pod, in the fridge, three or four days. Shelled beans freeze well and keep their bitterness.
If you cannot get it: Fresh only from roughly December to February in south India, and rarely sold outside it. Frozen shelled beans work; dried ones are a different ingredient and need soaking overnight.

Measures

1 cup ≈ 150 g

Cups here are the Indian 200 ml cup, not the 240 ml US cup — a common reason a recipe does not work. Weigh where you can; the grams are the figure we cook to.

Recipes using field beans

None published yet.