Bisi bele bath is a hearty and delectable Karnataka dish made from rice, lentils and vegetables – an absolute must-try vegan recipe!
To make bisi bele bath powder, dry roast 1 teaspoon chana dal, 1/2 teaspoon urad dal and 4 low heat variety red chillies until aromatic. Once cool, grind into a powder for best results.
Ingredients
Bisi bele bath is an easy and delicious wholesome dish made with rice, lentils, vegetables and special spice blend. This easy recipe can be completed either using a pressure cooker or on the stovetop vessel, making the recipe easily adaptable to use other grains such as quinoa, millet or brown rice as needed. Enjoy it hot from the stove with some delicious accompaniments like boondi mixture or raitha on the side for maximum enjoyment!
This recipe uses store bought bisi bele bath powder; however, grinding your own powder would give an authentic flavour. If that isn’t possible then MTR bisi bele bath powder or sambar powder would work just as well.
To use an instant pot, combine washed toor dal (lentils), rice and jaggery into an instant pot and combine well before seasoning it with salt. Close the lid and set to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK mode; allow pressure release naturally over 8 minutes.
Heat the ghee or oil in a separate pan to prepare the tempering. Add mustard seeds, allow them to splutter, add urad dal, once golden-brown in colour add dried red chillies and curry leaves before sauteing for one more minute and pour the entire tempering over your rice-dal meal.
Stir the mixture thoroughly until everything is evenly combined, then let it simmer on low heat until it thickens. Taste it, adding additional salt if necessary or more tamarind extract as desired. Enjoy this spicy yet comforting Karnataka dish served hot alongside boondi or raitha on the side!
Bisi bele bath should have a runny consistency. If it becomes too thick, add one cup of hot water to thin out the mixture and stir vigorously to ensure all ingredients are combined evenly and that the dish achieves an ideal texture and prevents too much mushy texture that makes this dish so special.
Preparation
Bisi bele bath is a classic Karnataka or Kannada rice and vegetable dish. Composed of ingredients such as rice, lentils, vegetables and an exotic spice mix cooked separately before being combined in one delicious dish at the end, preparation is long but worth every moment as its flavors make an impressionful statement about life itself! For maximum flavour use a mixer/blender to blend all the spices included in Bisi Bele Bath powder before dry roasting each spice individually before mixing everything into a powder form to give an aromatic and flavourful base before beginning with dry roasting then grinding all spices from Bisi Bele Bath powder into powder form for maximum aroma and flavour to seep through when adding your final dish is complete!
Cook the dal in a pressure cooker with turmeric powder and enough water for 4-5 whistles or until fully cooked. After adding cooked rice to it, combine all of the following: tamarind extract, bisi bele bath powder, jaggery and salt to taste; stir. Once everything has been mixed well add tamarind extract, bisi bele bath powder, jaggery and salt as desired to taste in small tempering (tadka) pan; crack 1 teaspoon mustard seeds before adding curry leaves sprigs and pinch of asafoetida before pouring over Bisi bele bath and mixing thoroughly before covering and setting aside for later.
While your rice is cooking, prepare a tasty tempering by heating two tablespoons of ghee or oil in a small pan over low heat and adding one teaspoon of mustard seeds, 12 curry leaves, and several broken dried red chillies – fry until everything has come together well before adding this mixture into your simmering bisi bele bath and mixing thoroughly.
Now that your hot and spicy vegetable dal is finished, garnish it with chopped coriander leaves before serving bisi bele bath piping hot. Enjoy it with some crispy boondi potato wafers on the side for added crunch! Keep this dish in the refrigerator for several days until serving it piping hot – however it will always taste better when consumed immediately!
Cooking
Bisi bele bath is an irresistibly nutritious pot meal composed of rice, lentils and mixed vegetables in an aromatic spice blend. A staple in Karnataka cuisine, this meal can make an amazing breakfast or lunch (even packed into lunchboxes!) This one-pot wonder provides essential carbs, proteins and fats while being easily prepared using Instant Pot or pressure cooker!
It’s an effortless recipe that’s ideal for busy weekdays or leisurely weekend afternoons, using whatever veggies are lying around the refrigerator or pantry and no elaborate side dishes are required – simply pair it with curd or pickles for an enjoyable meal!
Start by creating the masala powder: on a low flame, dry roast 1 teaspoon each of chana dal and urad dal with four red chilies until they turn golden and smell aromatic, adding 1 inch cinnamon, 2 cloves and marati moggu (optional). When cool enough to grind to a fine powder. Set aside.
Heat 3-4 tablespoons of ghee or oil in a pan over low heat. Once hot, add tempering ingredients such as 12-15 curry leaves, 1 to 2 marati moggu, 2-3 dried red chilies, 18-20 cashew nuts and 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida (hing). As soon as seeds start crackling and nuts change color add the roasted masala powder and mix thoroughly before pouring this over the cooked dal and rice mixture.
Cook the mixed vegetables until they reach 3/4th done in their own separate pan to prevent them from turning into mush when mixed in with the rice and dal mixture, as this will ensure they won’t discolor upon boiling with other ingredients. When done, combine all the cooked dal and tamarind water as well as your finished vegetables into the final dish.
To use an Instant Pot, fill its inner pot with 2 cups of water and place a trivet inside. Transfer your dal and rice mixture into the inner pot before setting your pressure cooker for 8 minutes with natural pressure release. After cooking is complete, open your lid and stir the mixture before adding salt as necessary and serving hot with generous drizzles of ghee and chopped coriander leaves as garnish.
Serving
Bisi bele bath is an irresistibly tasty and healthful one-pot dish from Karnataka that combines lentils, rice, vegetables and spices into an inviting hearty and filling meal. Perfect as part of any raita or vegetable curry for an irresistibly filling and nutritious lunch option for children as well as being packed full of nutrition!
Bisi bele bath can be made quickly in just 20 minutes with just three ingredients and steps: first the dal is made; then white rice along with chopped vegetables is cooked separately, before the two components are mixed with tamarind water, bisi bele bath spice mix, jaggery and simmered to perfection before finally being garnished with south Indian spices, curry leaves and optional nuts as well as dry red chillies tempered in ghee. It makes an ideal dish to make when time is limited as all three components can be made together in just three steps!
In this instant pot version of Bisi Bele Bath, all the ingredients are combined and cooked on Manual/Pressure Cook mode for eight minutes before releasing pressure naturally through natural release. After opening the lid and stirring in bisi bele bath powder (red chili powder, turmeric powder), salt, tamarind extract and other spices, stirred together before eating!
Add rinsed toor dal (lentils), rice and jaggery and combine. Taste and adjust as necessary before adding 1 cup of hot water and mixing thoroughly again before pressing SAUTE button for 2 minutes of cooking time. Garnish as desired with fried cashews and coriander leaves for garnish.
To add the authentic flavor, it is best to create your bisi bele bath spice mix from whole and whole-some ingredients such as coriander seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, fennel seeds peppercorns cinnamon sticks and cloves instead of purchasing store-bought MTR Bisibelebath powder. However if time is an issue then store-bought powder can still provide that delicious authentic taste – though freshly ground powder would enhance its flavour more significantly! You may use short grain rice such as sona masuri or chawali instead if required but toor dal must always remain an integral component to this recipe as it cannot be replaced by any other lentils/beans.
