I have never been fond of sambhar but love bisi bele bath even though the ingredients are similar. I know it is totally weird!! My mother exploited my preference and made bisi bele bath very often just so tamarind would be part of my regular diet.
Bisi bele bath is a dish that originates from Karnataka. As the name suggests it is a hot (bisi) mixture (bath) of dal (bele), rice and vegetables.
We were each busy with some or the other work last Sunday and making lunch was definitely not on our minds. But when your stomach is growling constantly it is very hard to continue working. At about 3 in the afternoon I asked my mom what we were going to do for lunch. She asked me to chop vegetables so she could make bisi bele bath. What started as a mere helping turned out to be full-fledged cooking. I ended up making the whole dish since my mother was multi-tasking and I just did not have the heart to pull her out of her chores. It was almost 6 by the time we had our "lunch" but it was well worth the wait. I am really happy that my mom's cooking skills have rubbed off on me, at least a little ;)
Ingredients:
Rice - 2 cups
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Assorted vegetables - 1 cup
Onion and tomato - 2 tbsp each, chopped finely
Jeera - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 cup
Sambhar powder - 1 tbsp, heaped
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil as required
Water - 6 to 8 cups
To be ground to a paste:
Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Dhania - 1 tbsp
Red chilies - 4
Clove - 1
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Fry the above in a little oil until golden brown and grind along with 1/2 cup of grated coconut and little water to make a paste.
For Garnishing:
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts - few, broken
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Method:
1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and pop the jeera and mustard. Fry the onion and tomato. Add other vegetables and saute for few minutes.
2. Add sambhar powder, turmeric powder and salt. Add washed and cleaned rice and dal. Pour the tamarind pasted. Add more than sufficient water.
3. Pressure cook and allow upto 4 whistles.
4. Once the cooker is ready to open, add the ground paste and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Finally heat ghee and pop jeera. Fry the cashew nuts untill golden brown. Pour this mixture over the bisi bele bath.
Raitha and boondhi make for a great accompaniment to this dish which is served piping hot.
Bisi bele bath is a dish that originates from Karnataka. As the name suggests it is a hot (bisi) mixture (bath) of dal (bele), rice and vegetables.
We were each busy with some or the other work last Sunday and making lunch was definitely not on our minds. But when your stomach is growling constantly it is very hard to continue working. At about 3 in the afternoon I asked my mom what we were going to do for lunch. She asked me to chop vegetables so she could make bisi bele bath. What started as a mere helping turned out to be full-fledged cooking. I ended up making the whole dish since my mother was multi-tasking and I just did not have the heart to pull her out of her chores. It was almost 6 by the time we had our "lunch" but it was well worth the wait. I am really happy that my mom's cooking skills have rubbed off on me, at least a little ;)
Ingredients:
Rice - 2 cups
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Assorted vegetables - 1 cup
Onion and tomato - 2 tbsp each, chopped finely
Jeera - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 cup
Sambhar powder - 1 tbsp, heaped
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil as required
Water - 6 to 8 cups
To be ground to a paste:
Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Dhania - 1 tbsp
Red chilies - 4
Clove - 1
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Fry the above in a little oil until golden brown and grind along with 1/2 cup of grated coconut and little water to make a paste.
For Garnishing:
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts - few, broken
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Method:
1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and pop the jeera and mustard. Fry the onion and tomato. Add other vegetables and saute for few minutes.
2. Add sambhar powder, turmeric powder and salt. Add washed and cleaned rice and dal. Pour the tamarind pasted. Add more than sufficient water.
3. Pressure cook and allow upto 4 whistles.
4. Once the cooker is ready to open, add the ground paste and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Finally heat ghee and pop jeera. Fry the cashew nuts untill golden brown. Pour this mixture over the bisi bele bath.
Raitha and boondhi make for a great accompaniment to this dish which is served piping hot.
