Bisi Bele Bath Recipe, bisi bele huli anna, Karnataka Style spiced lentil with rice

Name: Bisi Bele Bath Recipe, bisi bele huli anna, Karnataka Style spiced lentil with rice
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: Karnataka
Ingredients: 3/4 Cup Toor Dal; 3/4 Cup Raw Rice (I used Sona Masuri Rice); 5 Cups Water; 1 Cup Hot Water; 2 Tablespoon Ghee; 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds; 2 Sprigs Curry Leaves; 3 Tablespoon Tamarind Paste; 1 Tablespoon Jaggery; 2 1/2 Tablespoon Bisi Bele Bath Powder; 1 1/2 Teaspoon Salt; 1 Cup Water; Ghee to serve

July 4, 2016 by Suguna Vinodh 30 Comments

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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.