Avarekai comes to town! Food Street celebrates Avarebele Mela

 The Good City takes you to V V Puram in Bangalore where the winter special hyacinth bean, locally popular as Avarebele, has a street food festival in its honour for 17 years in row. 

Also, don't miss the quick guide to popular dishes!

Read the article & see the video* too 

The Sajjan Rao circle in Visvesvarapuram is ringed by many temples. The oldest are the Subramanya temple, which is also the most famous, the Venkataramana temple and Sathyanarayana temple.

If the devout come to offer prayers in the morning, they are equally fervent come evening.

They are headed not to a temple but to a lane that leads off Sajjan Rao Circle, Old Market Road, that has become famous as Food Street.

It is the place to savour local delicacies* like paddu, akki rotti, kodbale and a variety of dosas slathered with butter. In recent years, popular street food from other parts of India have also found their way here.

Today, we are in luck as the famous avarekai festival is going on. Avarekai or the hyacinth bean is a winter favourite and is supposed to have antimicrobial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, appetite suppressant, antispasmodic and even aphrodisiacal properties.

Did you know that Avarebele has an African Connection ?

It is believed that the hyacinth bean is from Africa and was brought to India sometime between 1600-1500 BC 

Once a year, avarekai is the 'Queen' of the menu, headlining every dish. Avarekai is commonly used in popular dishes akki rotti, uppittu and saaru. For the duration of this food fest, all the familiar favourites are there but with an infusion of this bean.

The avarekai dosa - a dense utthapam-style dosa liberally sprinkled with avarekai and served with a spicy saaru, avarekai holige, avarekai jalebi, avarekai idli, avarekai vada, avarekai kodubale, avarekai nippattu, avarekai bhaath and even avarekai cutlets!

           

 The traditional sweets like

      holige & jalebi also have 

  avarekai  in them! The only dessert that has so far escaped avarekai is the gulkand; made from rose petals, it is as unique as this Food Street, avarekai or no avarekai.

      

A quick guide to popular dishes on Food Street

Paddu, also known as gulliyappa in Kannada, paniyaram in Tamil and gundponglu in Telugu, this cute little dumpling made of fermented batter of urad dal and rice is a cross between an idli and a dosa.

Akki rotti is a roti made of rice flour that is patted on to a plantain leaf and released on to hot tawa.

Uppittu or upma is made of roasted semolina, cooked vegetables and seasoned with curry leaves and mustard seeds.

Saaru is a nourishing broth made with tamarind and jaggery extract, with dal or greens or just pepper.

Holige is a sweet flatbread made with split yellow gram, plain flour, jaggery or sugar, cardamom powder and/or nutmeg powder and ghee.

The avarebele mela is on from Jan 5 - 15, 11 am to 10 pm at 

V V Puram, Malleswaram & Nagarabhavi.

Bombe Habba: Dasara is the time to doll up in Mysore

One of the highlights of the Navaratri Dasara celebrations in Mysore is the bombe habba or the festival of dolls. 

In the days when the city was ruled by the Vijayanagar kings, the rulers showered their benevolence on their subjects, and the people reciprocated by displaying dolls decked up in regalia, and offered prayers for their well being. Over time, animals and prominent people have been to the doll display, including of course cricketers. 

Like this information? Read on in Marvels of Mysore & More: available in all Sapna bookstores in Bangalore & Mysore, Gangarams and other leading book stores in Bangalore.  For the ebook, Click here 

Bangalore's scientific eco-system

Three institutions in Bangalore are charting new territories in understanding biological science. This cluster of research institutes with the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) as the nucleus, are adding to the city's scientific eco-system. Working at the forefront of biology across several levels, they follow diverse models, and promote innovation and entrepreneurship in this field. Read more in the BEST OF BANGALORE Innovation edition. CLICK HERE to buy online 

“A good entrepreneur in Bangalore will find money" - Pradeep Kar

Pradeep Kar, Founder, Chairman & Managing Director of Microland  and serial technology entrepreneur

The entrepreneurial climate of Bangalore created legendary start-ups in the 1990s. Today, the city is abuzz again with successful start-ups across diverse verticals and starting a new business has never been easier here.

Read more in the BEST OF Bangalore Innovation Edition, which Kar describes as “very relevant to Bangalore”. CLICK HERE to buy online

“Not a Kodak moment: Innovation has to be pervasive” - Ashok Soota

Ashok Soota

“Innovation is a lifetime survival strategy. If you are not adopting the latest disruptive technologies, you will be disrupted”, said Ashok Soota, Executive Chairman of Happiest Minds.

Speaking about ‘Innovation as a key business differentiator’ at the launch of the international book BEST OF Bangalore Vol. 2 Innovation Edition, Soota asserted that innovation was not just marketing or product strategy.

Nobody would know better: He worked in the manufacturing industry before leading the growth of Wipro’s IT business from a run rate of $2 million to $500 million. He then co-founded MindTree and led it to a run rate of $350 million, before starting Happiest Minds which is on course to becoming the fastest Indian IT services company to achieve $100 million in revenue. Soota is also an industry leader; he was President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and also President of Manufacturers' Association of Information Technology. He has served on the Prime Minister's Task Force for IT and on the Advisory Council for the World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva.

According to Soota, “The only reason why, in a city of mushrooming IT companies, Happiest Minds has been successful is because of innovation”.

To underline the pitfalls of lagging behind, he cited the example of Kodak. Though the company pioneered digital cameras, the new technology was a one-off development for Kodak which did not follow through on innovative thinking. Eventually, the company stagnated due to the inability to ‘catch the next wave’. Similarly, Nokia that had led the mobile phone market, completely missed the smartphone wave and is now playing catch-up, he said.

Soota talked about the two main types of innovation – Technology Innovation and Market Innovation. The former is about adopting the latest design and architecture while the latter is about mobilising data and services through the use of disruptive communication and storage media like Cloud and Social Analytics. “It is a pervasive process and must become part of the company’s philosophy,” he said.

He wrapped up his speech on a high note, reminding the audience that Bangalore is one the top 5 entrepreneurial hubs in the world. “There is always a sense of adventure and courage to the businesses founded in this city and that is going to be the key differentiator in the times to come”, he said.

For more on disruptive technologies powered by Happiest Minds, read Connecting happiness in the BEST OF Bangalore Vol. 2 Innovation Edition: available in leading book stores. To buy the book online CLICK HERE

“For the people, of the people and by the people” – Sakala Egovernance

Unbelievable as it might appear to people who have waded through years of red tape, the Government of Karnataka has introduced an online system that addresses problems and helps resolve them within a fortnight. What’s more, it is a single-window system that spares people of the ordeal of running between different government departments.

Dr. Shalini Rajneesh

Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Government of Karnataka spoke about ‘Innovation in Governance’ at the launch of the international book BEST OF BANGALORE Vol. 2 Innovation Edition. “Innovation is the need of the hour in industry and government alike”, she said.

In particular, Dr. Rajneesh spoke about the Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act, 2011, popularly known as Sakala. Meaning ‘in time’ in Kannada, Sakala is a new system of empowerment that  stands true to the three fundamental axioms of democracy: for the people, of the people and by the people.

It also enables entrepreneurs and corporate businesses to obtain licenses quicker and without having to bribe anyone. “People are happily surprised to find ‘helpful’ government employees,” she quipped as she summarised the reach and efficiency of the programme.

Over the past 25 months, 53 million people have availed of the services in Sakala – a number that in itself proves the need for such a system. Currently, Sakala spans across 50 departments and 669 services. It is a herculean effort, and it has already won the Google Innovation Award for its novel approach to governance. Dr. Rajneesh urged the corporate world to work closely with the government in bettering the society and urged that CSR initiatives should prioritise women’s empowerment in the state.

For more on Sakala, read Transforming governance in the BEST OF BANGALORE Vol. 2 Innovation Edition: available in leading book stores. To buy the book online CLICK HERE

How does Bangalore fare as a business hub?

"The spirit of innovation is the most important aspect of the city" according to Sandeep Maini. He is the Chairman of the Maini Group of Companies, which was started in 1973 by his father, the pioneering industrialist Sudarshan Maini. A premier engineering and manufacturing entity, the Group has a global presence in sectors like Automotive & Aerospace, Plastics and Composites, Material Handling Equipments, Storage Systems, Electronic vehicles and All Terrain vehicles.The Maini Group has made history by producing India's first electric car, REVA.

Sandeep Maini is also Chairman of CII Karnataka State Council which works to create a better industrial climate in the state. “Bangalore is ideally suited for business, with its vibrant social and cultural environment”.

Sandeep Maini

Maini was speaking on the topic of ‘Bangalore as a Business Hub’ during the launch of the international coffee table book, BEST OF Bangalore Vol. 2 Innovation Edition on July 23 in Bangalore.

“The secret behind Bangalore’s success is that it is the most congenial city in the country,” said the long time Bangalorean. Bangalore has had a history of being a land of opportunity, he said, and cited the example of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India's premier aeronautical complex as embodying the city's spirit of innovation .

Tracing HAL’s origins, Maini said that it was founded in Mysore during the pre-Independence era as part of the Royal Indian Air Force. The Second World War drastically changed the face of this organisation and during the war, it served as a major repairing hub for United States Air Force (USAF). When the war ended, HAL emerged as one of Asia’s largest and renowned aircraft repair centres. From then on, HAL has continued to redefine itself.

The Reva electric car that the Maini Group had built (it has been acquired by the Mahindra Group) and said that the “Reva is our best example of adopting innovative thinking”.

The city undoubtedly has several challenges and there has been a noted degradation of civic values, but he was optimistic that citizens could overcome the hurdles if they pooled their resources together and take responsibility. Harking back to the growth of the Mainis, he said, “I can honestly say that we have grown with the best of Bangalore".

For more On Doing Business in Karnataka, and detailed interviews with Soumitra Bhattacharya, former Chairman of CII Karnataka State Council about the Agenda for Business and with Sandeep Maini about CII as a Business Enabler, read the BEST OF BANGALORE Vol. 2 Innovation Edition : available in leading book stores. To buy the book online CLICK HERE

Smokin’ it up

Written by Sandhya Mendonca 

Raintree Media Features

Friday evening found us at the brand new Smokehouse Deli on 100ft road, Indiranagar. I had called ahead for a reservation; the restaurant called back to apologetically offer a table outdoors.

 Hello, who in their right minds would choose to sit indoors in Bangalore if there is an option?

  When I went there though, there was not a table free on the miniscule lawn and none that showed signs of emptying any time soon.

My friends were yet to arrive so I stepped down and indoors into the brightly lit restaurant. It seemed to be blindingly white and I secretly hoped they would not palm us off there. A few minutes looking at the deli section and I was back again on the pavement; where one of the bustling staff (I learnt the next day that he was Riyaaz Amlani, the owner) offered me a drink. “I can hardly drink standing here, can I ?” I quizzed him and was told, “Oh no”, someone would escort me to the bar upstairs. (When I had called to reserve, I was told it was not yet open.)

By friends joined me by then and once again we were invited to go up and have a drink while we waited for a table. “I hope the drink’s on the house”, I said cheekily as we trooped up.

 Upstairs was nice, though one my friends had to be hauled up on to the tall chair

(ha ha – that was a sight). We decided we didn’t want to move and the same gent instructed our waiter that the first round of drinks would be on the house.  The cocktails were potent, and I don’t say that only because they were free. I did order another that I paid for.

Some of the dishes on the menu were not available that evening but we were not disappointed by the taste of what we had. My tortellini was melt in the mouth delicious; my friends had steaks that they found equally good. The only grouse we had was that portions were a little small – if we had not eaten a starter or devoured the bread sticks, we would have been ravenous after dinner. And at nearly Rs.500 bucks a dish (if you add taxes), that would not have been value for money. Since we were pleasantly full by then, it didn’t bother us as much.

As we left, the owner came by to ask us if we had liked the place. We dutifully informed him of the above, and he didn’t smirk or whine, he took it as constructive criticism. Pat on the back to him and the staff. It was only the third day that they had been open and they delivered very well, considering the pressure of people.

Twitter @sandhyamendonca

  

Smoke House Deli is @ No. 1209, Hal IInd Stage, 100ft Road Indiranagar.

Tel: 08025200898 / 99