Bisibelebath

Bisibelebath is an traditional Karnataka dish. My first try was an big disaster. While searching for perfect recipe, I learned many things about this dish and finally made it perfect and by family enjoyed it very much. I came to know that traditional bisibelebath did not call for onions, garlic or ginger and the veggies mainly used are roots.

To prepare Bisibelebath, a flavorful stew is made by cooking vegetables and special masala and finally, cooked rice and dal are added to the flavored vegetable stew.

The key to Bisibelebath is the masala. We can get bisibelebath masala in any Indian grocery store or we can make at home freshly. If you are a busy women, make this masala and store in an air thigh container. To store the masala, replace fresh coconut with dry coconut in masala ingredients.

In my recipe, I am using onion and garlic. But if you want to go authentic avoid them. Another important thing to remember is we must add enough water while cooking vegetables as this dish thickens after adding cooked rice and dal.

Ingredients

• Rice - 3/4 cup
• Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
• Tamarind - Small lemon size
• Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup, chopped

Bisibelebath Masala

• Coriander seeds - 1.5 Tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp
• Chana dal - 1 Tbsp
• Urad dal - 1 Tbsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 10
• Dalchini/Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
• Cloves - 2
• Cardamom - 2
• Dry Red Chilies - 3
• Grated Fresh Coconut - 1/4 cup

For Tempering

• Avvalu/Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic cloves - 3
• Curry leaves - 2 springs
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - pinch
• Oil or Ghee - 2 Tbsp

Veggies

• Onion - 1/2, cut lengthwise (We can also use shallots instead of onion  which give extra flavor)
• Green Chilies - 4
• Tomato - 1
• Carrot - 1
• French beans - 10
• Brinjal/Egg plant - 1 (We can also add Drumstick, bottle gourd, Peas)

Preparation

• Soak tamarind and extract pulp. Keep aside.
• For preparing masala, dry roast all the ingredients under masala, except coconut on a low flame for 2 minutes. Nice aroma will fill your room then add coconut and roast. Let them cool and grind into paste by adding little water.
• Chop all the veggies.

Method

• Wash rice and toor dal and cook them in a pressure cooker by adding 3 cups water up to 4 whistles.
• Heat oil in a pot, add tempering ingredients and fry. When mustard seeds splutter, add all the veggies and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the masala paste (add all the masala paste, don't hesitate. We must flavor our recipe as we add more water), salt, tamarind pulp and mix. Add sufficient water and cook till veggies are done.
• Add rice and toor dal mixture and mix well. If require add little water to get desired consistency (Try to add enough water while cooking veggies) and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on low flame. Add coriander leaves.
• Serve it hot with Appaddam and Vadiyam.