Bisi-Bele-Bhath

Bisi bele bhath is a famous rice-based dish Karnataka. Bisi-bele-bhath translates to hot-lentil-rice in the Kannada language. It is also known as Bisi bele huliyanna. The preparation of this dish is quite elaborate, involving preparation of spice powder. The spices used, contribute to the unique flavor and taste of this dish. It is served hot along with boondi or potato chips.

The best place to savor this dish in Bangalore is MTR or Mavalli Tiffin Room. However, the MTR branded ready-to-eats are nothing great to be bragged about. So is the spice powder - it is best when prepared fresh.

Here’s my MIL’s recipe for BBB. She makes wonderfully tasty BBB, which can easily compete with the MTR BBB :)

Bisi Bele Bhath

Preparation time : 15 min Cooking time : 25 min Serves : 5-6 Ingredients: Rice - 2 cups Tur Dal - 1 ½ cups Chopped Vegetables (Beans, Carrot, Potato, Onion, peas) - together 2 cups, all chopped into ½” pcs Salt - 1 tsp Coconut - 1 ½ Tbsp, grated - fresh or dry Tamarind pulp - 1 Tbsp, adjust acc to taste Jaggery - 1 big marble sized ball Oil - ½ Tbsp Butter - ½ Tbsp, optional Turmeric - 1 pinch Salt - 1 tsp, adjust acc to taste For the powder: Chana dal - 2 tsp Urad dal - 2 tsp Dry red chilies - 8-10 Cinnamon - 1” stick Coriander seeds - 2 tsp Cloves - 5-6 Maratha Moggu - 2 Cardamon - 2 Poppy seeds - 2 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs For tempering:Cooking oil - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Groundnut seeds - 1 tbsp Curry leaves - 2-3 strands Red chilies - 1 Turmeric - 1 pinch Method: For BBB powder: • Dry roast all the ingredients • Allow to cool for 5 minutes • Grind them into slightly coarse powder • This can be made in larger quantity and preserved for a couple of months Bisi Bele Bath:• Pressure cook dal and vegetables with a pinch of turmeric in sufficient water • Cook rice separately • Mix the cooked rice into the cooked dal and vegetable pan • Add tamarind pulp, salt, jaggery, BBB powder and bring to boil • Add grated coconut and mix thoroughly • Stir in between. Adjust the amount of water as per required consistency. • After boiling well for about 10 minutes, turn off the flame and add butter and mix Tempering: • Heat oil in a pan • Add mustard seeds and allow to sputter • Turn the heat low, add groundnut seeds, and stir • After the groundnuts are half-done, add curry leaves and red chili pieces and stir for half a minute till all the ingredients are properly roasted. Keep aside till needed • Mix the tempering to the BBB just before serving to retain the crispness of the groundnuts Tips n Tricks: • Do not make rice too mushy mushy • Make the BBB a little watery. It absorbs the water and gets thickened after sometime. Variations: • An onion can be sautéed and added along with the tempering • An alternate method is to add all the raw ingredients and pressure cook the entire mixture at one go. However, my preference is the elaborate method.