Alemane habba spreads the flavour of jaggery

HUBLI: Alemane habba, a unique sugarcane juice extraction festival, began in the city on Friday, at the Havyaka Samudaya Bhavan near Loothimath Layout on Gokul Road.
The four-day festival is being organized by the Havyaka Educational and Cultural Association, Hubli-Dharwad and Manjunath Hegde Mavinkoppa Geleyara Balaga.
Alemane is a place where sugarcane juice is extracted to make jaggery.This is a seasonal activity in Sirsi ,Siddapur and Yellapur taluks of Uttara Kannada during winter. The festival being held in Hubli provides an opportunity for citizens to get a taste of this festival of the countryside and savour natural sugarcane juice and allied products like Joni Bella and snacks icluding khara mandakki and mirchi.
Speaking to TOI, Shivram Hegde, director and vice-president of Havyaka Community of Hubli said: “We are organizing Alemane habba in Hubli for the first time. Extracting sugarcane juice at Alemane was in practice in the earlier days but now it has been replaced by equipment using advanced technology. We are holding this unique festival to preserve the age-old tradition and also to create awareness among people on the importance of naturally processed food items.
Raju Naik, a visitor to the habba said, “I had only heard about Alemane but never got a chance to see it. It is a unique experience. The taste of juice extracted through Alemane also differs from the one produced through a machine.”