When I was in my high school, my mom sent me to tuition everyday. 10th grade was like “THE” most important grade on earth for her and like all other households, I was sent to tuition with an excellent teacher named Chandra. She was originally from Kallakurichi. After marriage, she spent a lot of years in Bangalore and then relocated to Coimbatore during her retirement years. She used to come all the way from Kovai Pudur to teach us in town. She was extremely funny, strict and would never take “NO” for an answer. The tuition took place in Karthika-Krithika’s house. Karthi and Krithi were twins and that’s how we called them. Chandra Miss liked English Literature a lot. If we did not do our tests up to expectations, she would shout AA-KE-MOO…AA-KE-MOO. It meant ” Arivu Ketta Moodevi” in Tamil. Sorry, I cannot translate that. She was extremely caring and wanted all of us to excel. Most of us scored real good marks with more than half of her students scoring centum in various subjects. I scored a centum in Math. Hurray!!!!! So that’s one up my sleeve. We were around 15-20 students. After the exams were over, she gave a party to all of us. The menu was bisi bele bath, Appalam and potato chips. I vividly remember that day. A bigggg vessel of bisi bele bath and homemade potato chips were polished off in no time. We cracked jokes and spent the whole day at her home before saying goodbye. I still remember her. She always wore short sleeved blouse and was very punctual. The memories are still so very fresh. Now to the recipe.
The thing about bisi bele bath is the BBB masala powder. Here is the recipe for Bisi Bele Bath Masala Powder. We will be using this powder to flavor the rice.
First we will cook the dal and the rice. We will be using raw rice for this recipe. Wash the dal and the rice and add it to a pressure cooker. Add in the water and cook for 5 whistles. Remove from the stove and wait for the pressure to release.
Add a cup of hot water and mix well to loosen the rice dal mixture a little bit. Adding hot water at this stage makes the rice very creamy. Set aside. The rice will thicken up as it cools.
Heat Ghee in a pan and add in the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let it pop. Add in the cashewnuts and peanuts. Fry till the nuts are brown.
Add in the tamarind paste and jaggery. Add in a cup of water. Add in the Bisi Bele Bath powder and the salt. Let it come to a boil. Let it boil for 3-4 minutes to cook the tamarind and the masalas.
Add in the cooked rice dal mixture. Mix well and let it simmer for a couple of minutes on the stove. Remove from heat and set aside.
Serve hot with a good teaspoon of ghee for each serving.
- ¾ Cup Toor Dal
- ¾ Cup Raw Rice (I used Sona Masuri Rice)
- 5 Cups Water
- 1 Cup Hot Water
- 2 Tablespoon Ghee
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 Sprigs Curry Leaves
- 3 Tablespoon Tamarind Paste
- 1 Tablespoon Jaggery
- 2½ Tablespoon Bisi Bele Bath Powder
- 1½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Water
- Ghee to serve
- Wash the dal and rice and add it to a pressure cooker. Add in 5 cups of water and cook for 5 whistles. Remove from stove and wait for the pressure to release.
- Add a cup of hot water and mix well to loosen the rice dal mixture a little bit. Adding hot water at this stage makes the rice very creamy. Set aside.
- Heat Ghee in a pan and add in the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let it pop. Add in the cashewnuts and peanuts. Fry till the nuts are brown.
- Add in the tamarind paste and jaggery. Add in a cup of water. Add in the Bisi Bele Bath powder and the salt. Let it come to a boil. Let it boil for 3-4 minutes to cook the tamarind and the masalas.
- Add in the cooked rice dal mixture. Mix well and let it simmer for a couple of minutes on the stove. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Serve hot with a good teaspoon of ghee for each serving.
You can add veggies of your choice.
Optional: Fry some peanuts, cashewnuts and curry leaves in ghee and serve as a garnish.
Hi Suguna,
Is green cardamon a good substitute for Marathi Monggu?
Will it be good if we add some veggies to it? Or it will spoil the taste?
Sure Lekha. You may add veggies and will taste good too!
Did some researching. It appears Bisi Bela Bath was developed in the Palace of Maharaja of Mysore about 300 years ago. Palace had ayurvedic experts who knew the medicinal properties of plants and herbs and it seems to be played a great part. So the health benefits of BBB need to be closely examined by all of us who love it.
As for myself – a long time Type 2 diabetic, it is definitely helping better control of blood sugar. Since it can be prepared with minimal salt without sacrificing the taste, I found that it helped reduced swelling in the feet. The result is amazing.
I live in USA and all the ingredients are easily available. Only Marathi Moggu is difficult to find; but can be ordered online.
Any feedback from personal experience of others is welcome and BBB may be one of the healthiest food.
Thanks for the recipe and instructions.
I am a diabetic on insulin. Bisi Bele Bhath is helping me to reduce blood sugar. Looks like it is cutting the insulin resistance. Would like feed back from others.
I would recommend making your own masala to ensure all the spices are in it in right quantities.
I would use Ceylon Cinnamon since the Cassia Cinnamon from China, Indonesia, Vietnam contains the toxic substance coumarin. Ceylon cinnamon is lot more expensive, but worth avoiding courmarin in Cassia Cinnamon.
Tried this today with the powder we get from shop. Turned out very well. This is going to be my new 15 minutes lazy day recipe.
Thats nice Soumya. Glad that you liked the recipe.
hi kannamma, wonderful recipe.. loved it.. one question thou.. what are your cup measurements in this recipe.. is it the big 250 ml cup or the rice cooker cup measuring 160 ml?.. thanks in advance for clarifying..
Its the standard 240ml cup
Hi Suguna,
Wonderful blog with neat template.
Thank You!
Saguna, your recipies are so perfect and end results are far netter than expectations!
Thank you!
Your recipes are very tasty n easy to make both veg n non – veg. Thank you for making simple n mouthwatering dishes.
Thank you!
Hello Kannamma,
Your recipes are killer. My brother who resides in the US has never even peeped into kitchen while in India. Recently learnt from his friends that he has become a uber cool cook.Also found that his secret is “Kannammacooks” 😛 🙂
This is my first time trying out your recipe and it turned out to be jaw droppingly awesome. MY husband loved it too. Thanks a ton and best wishes.
WOW! Thats so nice Dhivya. Glad to know that your brother is able to manage outside of home. Happy Cooking!
Hi Suguna,
I became big fan of you and trying all your recipes. Made Bisi Beli bath today and it turned out delicious. Easy to prepare and filling. Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
This looks mouth watering! If I don’t have Marathi Moggu or Byadagi Chillies and use the dried red chillies we get at the local Indian Grocery store instead, will the results still come out close?
Baydagi is needed for color and marathi moggu gives a unique flavor. You can try without it, its ok. it will still be nice.
awesome. before you explain menu, you used to tell some incidents happened. that adds more taste your menus and I like very much.
Thank you so much!
Can I use oil in place of the ghee or an oil-ghee combo?
oil-ghee combo will work
Hi Suguna! It looks flavourful 🙂 But don’t we add vegetables?
Its up to you. You can add veggies if you want. But there is no veggies in traditional bisi bela.