How to make Bisi Bele Bath

Recipe For Bisi Bele Bath

Preparation Time : 15 minutes 
Cooking Time : 30 minutes
Serves : 3-4

Ingredients

• Rice - 1 cup
• Toor Dal (Red Lentils) - 3/4 cup
• Water - 5 cups
• Onion - 1/2 (chopped)
• Tomato - 2 (chopped)
• Mixed Vegetables - 2 cups (You can use whatever you have on hand like brinjal, ash gourd, capsicum, carrot, potatoes, Green Peas, Drumstick, Yam, Beans, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash etc)
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Tamarind Juice - 1/4 cup (or as needed)
• Ghee - 2 tbsp
• Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp

Spice Mix

• Channa dal - 1.5 tbsp
• Urad dal - 1 tbsp
• Dry Red Chillies - 5
• Black Peppercorns - 4
• Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
• Dry Coconut Powder/ Fresh Grated Coconut - 3-4 tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 1 spring
• Poppy Seeds - 1 tsp (optional)
• Whole Garam Masala - 1" piece cinnamon, 2 cloves, 1 cardamom

For Seasoning

• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Cashews - 10
• Curry Leaves - 1 spring
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Dry Red Chillies - 2

Method

1. Wash the rice and toor dal. If you have time, soak it for 10 minutes. Wash and chop the vegetables in big chunks so that it doesn't get completely mashed up.
2. Take a pressure cooker or a heavy bottomed pan and add the rice, lentils (toor dal), 1 tbsp sesame oil, onion, tomatoes and all the other vegetables.
3. Add 5 cups of water, required salt and turmeric powder. Close the cooker and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.
4. Alternatively if you are using a heavy bottomed pan, cook for about 45 minutes till the rice, dal and vegetables are soft.
5. In the meantime, dry roast all the ingredients under 'Spice Mix' on low heat till everything turns light brown. Cool it and make a coarse powder. You can also add some water and make a paste.
6. After the pressure has gone down from the cooker, open the lid and turn on the heat again.
7. Mix the coarsely ground spice and the tamarind juice with the rice. (Tip :- If you want the rice less spicy, reduce the amount of spice powder according to your taste. Also adjust the amount of tamarind juice depending on the sourness you need. The tomatoes already adds little sourness to the dish.)
8. Heat ghee in a separate small pan and splutter the mustard seeds. Fry the fenugreek seeds, cashews on a low heat for 30 seconds. Add the curry leaves, dry red chillies and asafoetida to this.
9. Add this hot tempering to the bisi bele bath. Mix everything together and let it cook on low heat for about 10 minutes till all the flavors blend up.
10. Finally add 2 tbsp of fresh ghee and switch off. Serve it piping hot with some potato chips, papad, salad or some fry. 

Tips

• You can make a big batch of the spice powder (Bisi bele bath powder) and store it. This way you can make bisi bele bath very quickly whenever you crave for it. Of course, you could also use store bought bisi bele bath powder.
• To get the perfect texture, it would be better to use the small grained rice. The rice needs to completely blend with the lentils.
• It is better to avoid vegetables like ladies finger or radish as they do not complement the basic flavor of the dish.
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