An ode to avarekai

My cousin Ramakrishna who has become a domiciled pucca Andhra vaadu after serving for thirty and odd years in a bank in Andhrapradesh has pointed out to me that I have omitted to mention "anumula ginja kootu" in my post on Sankranthi. To make up for this omission here is something which I penned a few years back.

The season

This is winter--a season of mists,intermittent rains, cold mornings and in some places snow; a season in which outdoors are forbidding and indoors are inviting with warm clothes and sumptous dinners. This is the season for Thanksgiving and the turkey, here in USA. Much of the thrill in olden days, it appears, was in running after the turkey and catching it. Possibly the bird too enjoyed the chase in the cold winter, alas, to end up soon in an oven too hot to be comfortable. But, to us people from Karnataka, this is the season for avarekai the humble legume. In the olden days avarekai while still in its aromatic oily pod was plucked on misty mornings, brought home from the field with its farmland freshness unspoiled; all hands, young and old, set to work on opening the pods and gathering the seeds, grading them, and towards the end of the season dehusking them with a deft pinch of the fingers. Throughout the season several delectable dishes had avarekai as their main ingredient. The taste of a serving of avarekai saaru, correctly spiced, perfectly blended with side dishes of happala and sandige, defies descrption. If you needed a stiff dose of antacid exactly two hours after consuming the saaru, the authenticty of its ingredients and the expertise of the cook who prepared it is well established.