Bean - Kundapura Alsande

Phaseolus vulgaris
Snap Pole Bean 
75 Days

NEW FOR 2026

Plump and delicious fresh-eating beans with long, round, pale-green pods that reach about 10-12" in length, sometimes with a rather jaunty curl. Flowers are white, and the vines reach about six feet with nice big leaves. They are relatively slow-growing in our region, which is actually a welcome feature for us green bean enthusiasts - they're still going strong when earlier bean varieties start moving past the fresh eating stage into seed maturation.

Alsande is a Kannada word for fresh green cowpea pods, also known as yardlong or noodle beans, though it can also refer to the dried seeds depending on the context. It is sometimes used to refer to green beans in general, but more often is specific to a yardlong bean. Now, you might be thinking to yourself: "...cowpeas are Vigna unguiculata, but these Alsande are a regular common bean - Phaseolus vulgaris. What gives?" I don't actually have an answer, but my guess is that it's a regional heirloom that got lumped in with the usual cowpeas because it gets used the same way and has a similar look. I like the mystery, and am happy to be stewarding one that's a little different from the other alsande out there.

These seeds came to me through a fellow vendor on the annual Seedy Saturday circuit. One of their family members back in India got them at a small market in their hometown of Kundapura, and they have been growing them in their garden here on the prairies ever since. 

Kundapura is a coastal town in the Udupi district of Karnataka state in India, on the Arabian Sea. Those coastal origins might have something to do with why these beans mature later in our region. Udupi has its own regional cuisine known for its distinctive vegetarian fare, which comes from a temple food heritage largely focused on sattvic dishes that adhere to Ayurvedic principles. It's a great place to start if you're looking for a traditional Alsande recipe ;)