Come winter season, streets in Bangalore area would be flooded with avarekayi, aka fresh hyacinth or field beans. A favorite of the locals, the bean is extensively used in cooking and enjoyed through out the season in the region. During my previous visit to India, I happened to see them surprisingly in the month of July when we went to eat at the Thindi beedhi / Eat street in V. V. Puram, Basavanagudi. We bought some avarekayi to try later at home while I tasted these dose there.
Here is a delicious breakfast option using these beans if you are bored with the regular dosa and looking for a colorful and nutritious variation. These dose are prepared similar to uttapam with toppings thrown over though the dose are made with fresh batter. Feel free to use the measurements given below as a guideline and adjust the quantities of toppings as preferred. Minced dill leaves is a flavorful addition to this dose which I have omitted. Even spring onions can be used.
Ingredients: (Yield - about 10 dosa)
4 cups dosa batter
4 cups dosa batter
Salt to taste
About 1/2 cup hitakida avaraekayi / skinned field beans *
1 big onion, finely minced
2 spicy green chilis, finely minced
Minced cilantro as needed
Oil to make dosa
* Fresh or frozen field beans can be used to make these dose / dosa. If using fresh beans, they must be skinned.
Directions:
* Add salt to dosa batter if it was not done before.
* If using fresh hitakida avarekayi, pressure cook for one whistle adding salt and little water. If using frozen beans, nuke them in a microwave adding little water and salt. Drain and proceed with the recipe.
* Combine cooked and drained beans, minced onion, green chili and cilantro. Keep this topping mixture aside. (Minced dill leaves, ginger and cumin seeds can be added if preferred.)
* Heat a griddle / tawa and pour a ladle of dosa batter at the center and spread in a circular fashion and quickly sprinkle the toppings generously over the dose covering it entirely. (Or pour a ladleful of batter at the center of the griddle and spread a little. Sprinkle the toppings over it and again spread the batter lightly in a circular fashion, with the back of the ladle so that the toppings stick better to the dosa.)
* Drizzle oil around the edges and cook until the surface doesn't look wet. Flip, drizzle some more oil around the edges and cook the other side as well.
* Remove the cooked dosa with a spatula and repeat the procedure with the remaining batter.
* Serve them warm with chutney.
This looks so delicious. I have a lot of avarakkai growing in my backyard in summer and this is something I am bookmarking to try.
ReplyDeleteThis is super cool variation of the regular dosa. My SIL uses these beans in akki roti and I love the flavor of it. Never thought to add in dosa. I am going to try this right away.
ReplyDeleteThis is a new stuffing for a Dosa, we get lovely field beans here, but we use them to make just curries. I am sure this stuffing would taste amazing in a Dosa. Let me give it a try this winter.
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