Avarekai Khara bath | Avarekaalu Khara Bhath

Avarekai Khara Bhath is a delicious savoury Semolina Upma made with Hyacinth beans (Avarekai) and a special spice blend. Served for breakfast or snack

What is Kharabhath?

Kharabhath in Kannada means Khara = spicy, bhath = any savoury pudding / rice based dish. In this case, it’s a upma-look alike but several notches higher… and spiced up with a secret ingredient. This Kharabhath is eaten both for breakfast or an evening snack / tiffins. Avarekai is kannada for hyacinth bean. So this bean is added generously to this upma.

Avarekai / Avarekaalu) a.k.a Hyacinth Bean is a delicacy for those from Bangalore / Mysore regions during winter. 

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The delicious bean lends itself to many dishes like HuLi (spicy sambar), Dosa / Upma / Idli / Jalebi (yes!!)/ Sundal (steamed salad) / HoLige (Sweet flatbread) and many more snacks during the three odd months Nov – Jan that this is available. This is also called Paavta (local in Marathi) and Mochai in Tamil and is used for various curries too. 

We have a lot of memories using this in Kurma / Saagu (spicy gravies) with other vegetables for Poori / Hot Chapatis. When this was in season, Mom used to tell us to skin the pods for that portion that we would eat (and often, it would lead to friendly quibbles on who ate most of the beans sambar ! ) Lovely memories of the entire family rallying to shell the pods  

Coming to today’s dish, I have loosely adapted Priya’s recipe for a lip smacking Khara bhath (spiced Upma) that features this Avarekai as a star. This dish can be  had for breakfast / snack or even packed for lunchbox as it tastes yummy when when slightly cool. 

5 Tips to make a soft, melt in the mouth Khara Bhath

• Roast the Rava / Sooji / Semolina till aromatic on a medium flame. Do not burn, Cool and only then use.
• Khara Bhath comes out super soft when ratio of sooji : water is 1:2/5 or 1:3 (depending on how coarse the sooji is), so keep some hot water handy and add extra if needed.
• We don’t use onions in this khara bhath as we want to the avarekai to shine through. If adding onions & tomatoes, adjust the spice , salt and water accordingly.
• Once the Kharabath (or any upma / sheera) is cooked, switch off flame. Let it rest for 10 mins for the grits to fully bloom and that gives it’s fluffy texture.
• Lastly, do NOT skip the GHEE (unless vegan or you want to use a vegan substitute) and the vangibhath powder . This is a characteristic taste of the Kharabhath.

Other dishes with Avarekai and Upma varieties you might like:

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Prep time – 15 mins ; Cook time – 15 mins, Serves – 2

• 1/2 cup Semolina (Sooji / Bombay Rava / Upma Rava)
• 1/4 cup Hyacinth bean (Avarekai) 
• 2 TBSP Oil
• 1 tsp Ghee (skip for vegan, but recommended to add)
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Vangibhath powder (sub with an instant Spice powder, see notes)
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1/2 cup Chopped Tomatoes
• 1/4 cup Grated coconut
• 2 TBSP carrots (minced)
• 2 TBSP French beans (trimmed and minced)

Tempering:

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Split black gram (urad dal)
• 1/2 tsp Bengal Gram (Channa Dal)
• 1 tsp cashews (opt.)
• 3 green chillies (slit / minced)
• 1/2 tsp Ginger (opt.)
• 1 spring curry leaves 

How to make Avarekai Kharabhath:

1. Roast the Sooji / Semolina in a dry kadai / pan till an aroma wafts out. 
2. Cool and reserve.
3. Chop all veggies , chillies, ginger etc
4. If using Store bought Roasted Rava, skip the first step. You can directly proceed to chopping the veggies. 
5. Par boil the veggies with a pinch of salt in an open pan till the bean is 85% done. 
6. Drain the water and reserve
7. Bring 1.5 cups of tap water to a rolling boil. Reserve.
8. For the rest of the steps, please check the video embedded below. 

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How to make Instant Vangibhath Powder

Vangibhath spice powder is the USP of this recipe. If you dont have that on hand, use the following recipe to make an instant Spice mix.

• Coriander seeds (dhaniya seeds)  – 4 tbsp
• Channa Dal (Bengal gram) – 1 ½ tsp
• Cloves – 1
• Cinnamon – ¾ – 1 inch long
• Marathi moggu – 1 or 2  (totally recommended for this spice powder)
• Red dry chilles – 4 nos
• Kashmiri Mirch – 4 nos
• Oil to fry spice – 1 tbsp
• Dry Copra grated – 3 tbsp (optional, but greatly adds to the texture and flavor)

How to make an instant Spice Powder

In a skillet, add oil. When hot, add channa dal, red chillies, cinnamon, clove, Marathi moggu. When dal turns slightly brown, add coriander seeds and switch off heat.

Fry the coriander seeds and in the end, add Dry Coconut (grated). Cool.

Grind and use in the recipe. This makes for 1 serving of Kharabhath above.