Bisi Bele Baath - Food for the Soul

Hello Folks!!!

The past few weeks in Bangalore have been marked by rainy evenings and nights too cold to stay without a pair of socks and a sweater. I was just sitting in my veranda and watching the rain fall. It was then that my mind time travelled into the past and I relived the day I was riding my bicycle to my dance class on a rainy evening.

I was in grade 7 when we had the annual day celebration of our dance class. I used to go to my dance class directly from school and stay there for practice until 9 at night due to which I would carry my dance class uniform, 2 bottles of water and an extra box of snacks to eat before my class began- all packed carefully in my school bag. It was a really tough schedule and used to strain out the energy of the dancer but those are some memories that will never leave my mind. The last day of rehearsals was very tiring and after practice I was waiting for my parents to pick me up. At that time, my teacher went to the kitchen and brought me this very tempting dish that was garnished with boondi (a fried Indian snack) and served to me with raitha and papad. It was the delicious Bisi bele baath!!!

What is this dish?

Bisi bele baath, which translates to bisi-hot, bele-lentil, baath- rice dish or huli anna, meaning sour rice is a spicy rice based traditional dish of Karnataka that is prepared in all Kannada speaking homes. It is said to have originated in the Mysore Palace and from there, spread across the entire state.

This dish is traditionally made with many spices like nutmeg, asafoetida, curry leaves and tamarind pulp, along with toor dal, rice, ghee (clarified butter) and vegetables. Some versions of this dish are even prepared with 30 ingredients! As the name suggests, it is served hot with a spoon full of ghee.

 

RECIPE                                                                                                                 Serves:4

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BISI BELE BAATH POWDER-

1.Red chilli- 4

2.Cinamon- 1 inch

3.Cloves – 2

4.Cumin – 1 tsp

5.Urad dal – 1 tsp

6.Channa dal – 1 tsp

7.Coriander seeds – 1 ½ tsp

8.Asafoetida – a pinch

9.Fenugreek seeds – 2 pinches

10. Curry leaves – a few

FOR BISI BELE BAATH

1.Rice- ¾ cup

2.Toor dal – ½ cup

3.Onion – 1 large

4.Tamarind extract – 1 cup

5.Jaggery – 1 ½ tsp

6.Salt – ½ tsp

7.Ghee- 1 tsp

VEGETABLES

1.French beans – 5

2.Carrot – 2

3.Potato - 1

4.Peas – ¼ cup

TEMPERING

1. Ghee-2 ½ tbsp

2.Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

3.Dried red chilli – 1

4. Asafoetida – a pinch

5.Curry leaves – a few

6.Cashew

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR THE BISI BELE BAATH POWDER-

1.Dry roast red chillies on a low flame, chana dal and urad dal until golden

2.Fry coriander seeds, cloves and cinnamon until aromatic and then transfer onto a plate.

3.Add fenugreek seeds and roast. Once aromatic, add cumin.

4.Cool the ingredients and make a fine powder from it.

PREPARATION

1.Rinse the rice and dal in separate bowls

2. Cook the rice with 1 ¾ cups of water and the dal with 1 cup in a pressure cooker using the pot-in-pot method and wait for 3 whistles.

3.Soak tamarind in ½ cup hot water and squeeze to extract the juice.

4.Add bisi bele baath powder, jaggery and salt to the tamarind juice and mix until there are no lumps.

5.Mash the dal and add it to the rice.

BISI BELE BAATH

1.Heat a pan with 1 tsp ghee and add the vegetables and sauté to bring out flavour.

2.Pour 1 cup of water to cook the vegetables until they are crunchy.

3.Add the tamarind mix and let it boil for a few minutes.

4.Add the mashed dal and rice and mix well. Add ¾ - 1 ¼ cups of water, stir well and let it come to a boil.

5.Cook until it reaches the desired thickness. NOTE : Bisi bele baath usually becomes thick when cools. So, remove it from the flame a little early.

TEMPERING

1.Heat 1 tbsp ghee or oil in a pan to fry cashew until golden. Then add mustard and red chilli.

2.Add curry leaves and fry until crispy and then add hing.

3.Pour the seasoning over the bisi bele baath.

Serve hot with crispy boondi and ghee….