Bisi Bele Bath

Bisi bele bath is the most famous rice dish from Karnataka. This is also known as Bisi bele huli anna meaning Hot dhal tamarind rice in Kannada. I still remember memorizing this name of the dish during my school days :) Unlike other rice varieties, where we make sure to retain the whole rice grain when we mix, this one is more tastier when you make it smashy. Using basmathi rice and pearl onions would add to its taste. Ready made bise bela bath mix is avaiable in indian grocery stores which makes the whole process easy but i prefer to make my own fresh masala to bring the originality.
Preparation Time: 45 Mins

Ingredients:
1. Rice - 2 cups
2. Toor dhal - 1 cup
3. Vegetable mixture - 250 gms
4. Salt - to taste
5. Mustard seeds - 2 teaspoon
6. Urud dhal - 2 teaspoon
7. Asafoetida - a pinch
8. Garlic - 10 pods
9. Cashew - 15 pieces
10. Onions - 1 finely chopped
11. Oil - 2 tablespoons
12.Ghee - 2 tablespoons


For Masala:
1. Toor dhal - 2 tablespoon2
2. Channa dhal - 1 tablespoon
3. Urud dhal - 1 tablespoon
4. Red Chillies - 5
5. Coriander seeds - 2 tablespoons
6. Cinnamon - 2 small pieces
7. Cloves - 3
8. Pepper - 1/2 tablespoon
9. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
10. Fennel seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
11. Grated Coconut - 6 tablespoons

12. Curry leaves - 4

13. Tamarind juice - 4 tablespoons

 Preparation:
1. Soak Rice and toor dhal together in water for 10 minutes.
2. As it gets soaked, cut vegetables and onions. You can use any vegetables, the most used ones are potato, beans, carrot, drumstick, Brinjal, peas.
3. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker and when hot add mustard seeds.
4. When it splutters, add urud dhal and asafoetida and fry well.
5. Add the finely chopped onions and fry until golden brown.
6. Now add the vegetables into the cooker and fry them in oil for next 5 minutes.
7. Filter the water from rice and dhal and add them to the pressure cooker without water and mix it well with the vegetables.
8. Add required salt and water. For the given mixture i used 6 glasses of water. Unlike other rice varieties, this one is supposed to be smashy and needs more water than usual quantity of water you use to cook rice.
9. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 5 whistles and switch off the stove.
10. Meanwhile, dry roast the ingredients given for masala except tamarind, cool and grind it to a paste with tamarind extract. Add the ingredients one by one and coconut at last.
11. When cooker pressure is released, open the lid and bring it to heat again.
12. Now add the ground paste to the boiled rice/vegetable mixture and mix it well and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes till the mixture blends.
13. You will start getting a fine aroma of the spices. Add extra ghee if you like to.
14. If you would wish to make this more smashy or watery, you can add some hot water and cook.
15. Bisi bele huli anna is ready to serve.

Tips:
1. Onion raitha or vadagam/appalam or potato chips is very good combination for this rice.
2. You can avoid coconut if you wish to. Alternatively, you can make a dry powder with all ingredients (except coconut) and stock it for few days and use as and when needed.You can add tamarind extract to the rice/dhal mixture when you pressure cook them and then add the powder.