Broad beans, known as Avaraikai in Tamil, are good sources of protein, fibre, vitamins A and C, potassium and iron.
Avaraikai is actually flat beans, tender with small seeds and pale green in colour. We can cook the whole avaraikai as French beans.
Mochaikai also looks like Avaraikai. But the Mochaikai is like “Green Peas with pods” and dark green in colour. We have to peel the pods from the Mochaikai and remove the seeds, i.e. “Pachai Mochai Kottai” (fresh bean seeds). Only the seeds can be used in cooking. This Mochaikai is available during December-January.
Tender Avaraikai is considered very healthy and added to “Pathiya Sappaadu”.
We can make sambar, kootu, poriyal, poricha kuzhambu, puzhi kuzhambu with avaraikai.
Recipes:
Broad Beans Kootu
Poricha Kuzhambu
Broad Beans Poriyal
Broad Beans Puzhi Kootu
Avaraikai Thuvattal
Kamala,
You have a great website!
I have a question about Avaraikkai. We don’t get good quality avaraikkai in San Antonio, Texas. Where I can get the really broad avaraikkai seeds? I remember when I was a young boy in Coimbatore, we used to get a very broad variety with purple hue and edges. I believe this is widely available in Tamil Nadu, but not anywhere else.
Seenu Srinivasan