Indian Recipe book

Bisibelabath

Assalam alaikum
Bisibelabath is a very popular dish in Karnataka. The name Bisi bele bhaath is a phrase, which literally means "Hot Lentil Rice", as in Kannada, Bisi means hot, bele means Lentils and bhaath means a dish made of rice (Def-wiki. Since it is cooked with lentils, vegetables and rice and it can be called a one pot meal. Many think it is a very elaborate process but actually it is very simple to make. The first i had this recipe in my hostel and then i asked my roommate wats the name of dish .she looked me with shock expression she said it was one of the famous dish .Then , I asked her about this bisibela bath recipe and she told me how to prepare it. The very next week I prepared it and liked it so much that I used to make this often. I am a great fan of this rice dish. It tastes great when served hot with papads and onion raita. This is her recipe and the only change I made was, to omit adding a little jaggery at the end. Bisi bele bath masala is available in grocery stores also. So if you do not have much time on hand, you can use the masala available, as that is also equally good. Today let us learn how to make bisi bela bath following this easy recipe.

Prep Time : 15 mins
Cook Time : 30 mins

Ingredients needed

Raw Rice - 1 cup
Tur dal - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - small lemon sized ball
Oil -1 tbsp
Ghee - 5 tsp

Pearl onions -15
Beans - 4-5
Carrot - 2
Potato - 1
Peas - fistful
Tomato - 1
Capsicum - 1

Bisi Bela Bath Masala (fry and dry grind)

Oil - 1 tsp
Kopra/Dry coconut powder -1/2 cup
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 6-7
Bengal gram/Channa Dal - 2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Cardamom -1
Khus khus -1 tsp

For the seasoning

Mustard -1 tsp
Fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - little
Asafoetida/hing - 1/4 tsp

Preparation

Heat a tsp of oil, roast the ingredients under Bisi Bela Bath Masala, adding coconut at the end. Roast everything until it becomes slightly brown in colour and dry grind it. You can prepare this a few days before if you are using kopra as it will not get spoiled. Store it in an airtight container.

Pressure cook rice with 4 ½ cups of water for 4 whistles.

Pressure cook dal with a cup of water and keep aside. Mash it well. I usually soak dal for 15 -20 minutes in hot water as it takes less time for cooking.

Cut pearl onions into 2-3 pieces. Cut beans and carrot lengthwise. Peel and chop potatoes into cubes. Cut capsicum into small pieces.

Soak tamarind in a cup of hot water for 15 minutes. Extract its juice and discard the pulp.

Method

Heat a tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add fenugreek seeds, hing and curry leaves. Saute for a seconds and add chopped onions.

Sauté onions until it becomes transparent. Then add all the vegetables (except capsicum) and sauté for a few more seconds. Sprinkle water and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Now add tamarind extract, needed salt and the bisi bela bath masala powder. Let it boil well until the raw flavour goes. By the time the vegetables will also get cooked well.

Add cooked dal, cooked rice, 4-5 tsp of ghee and mix well.

Heat a tsp of ghee and sauté capsicum until slightly cooked. It should be crunchy.

Garnish Bisibelabath with capsicums, coriander leaves and serve hot with chips or papads or onion raita.
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I want everyone to try out this simple recipe .
Allah Hafiz:)