Bisi Bele Bath

A very famous Karnataka recipe. This dish tastes very good at MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Rooms) in Bangalore. They serve it with a delicious raita. It is a one dish meal, easy to make and one of my favorites to cook after i mastered the art of preparing BBB. It took me 10 times of trying to get the perfect BBB recipe. Now i prepare as often as once in 10 days and it improves with every time i cook it. My kids like to eat potato wafers alongwith it, for me, i like it as is or with raita. Replace white rice with brown rice and it makes for good diet recipe with all the nutrition of vegetables and very less oil. This is how i prepare BBB.

BISI BELE BATH:





Ingredients: (powder)

2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp channa dal
1/2 tbsp jeera
6-7 methi seeds
2 pieces of 1 inch each , chinnamon
2 cloves
5 tbsp dry coconut (grated)
8 dry chillies (adjust this to your taste)

1. Dry fry all the above ingredients seperately and blend it into a powder together. Divide this powder in two portions.

For the BISI BELE BATH:

1 cup rice
3/4 cup toor dal
1 portion of the Bisi Bele Bath powder (recipe above)
1 cup of mix vegetables chopped evenly and washed (carrot, beans, capsicum, turnip)
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2. Wash the rice and dal together.
3. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the asafoetida, add the vegetables.
4. Stir fry vegetables for 1/2 a minute, add salt, turmeric powder and the BBB powder, stir fry.
5. After a minute of stir fry, add the washed rice and dal, mix well, add 4 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Let the pressure reduce and then open.
for the tamarind mix:

2 tbsp thick tamarind extract
1 tbsp jaggery

6. Mix the above 2 ingredients in 1 cup water and bring it to a boil.
7. Add this to the rice in the pressure cooker and mix well.

for the tempering:

1 tsp mustard seeds
2 sprigs curry leaves
2 dry chillies (split, i used the byadagi variety)
1 tbsp halved cashewnuts (optional)
1 tomato (cut fine)
the second portion of the BBB powder
1 tsp ghee
1/4 tsp asafoetida

8. Heat the ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add asafoetida and reduce flame and add chillies.
9. Add curry leaves and the tomato. Stir fry the tomatoes till cooked.
10. Add the powder and fry for 10 secs and immediately transfer this to the rice. Mix well.

You can also add onions for the tempering.

Though the recipe looks tedious with the number of steps, it isn't when you cook it.