Bisi Bele Bhath

This is the crowning glory of Kannada cooking. It is a combination of rice and lentils with loads of vegetables, all combined into a divine dish with the help of an exotic spice powder. The speciality of this dish is the delicateness of its taste enhanced by a variety of Indian spices that are used very subtly. There is no overbearing taste of any particular spice.

Ingredients for the Spice powder:

1-1/2 cups Channa dal (Bengal gram).
1 cup Urad dal (Black gram).
2 cups Coriander seeds.
12-15 Red chillies (can be adjusted according to one’s tolerance).
1 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds/ Methi.
3/4 teaspoon Cumin seeds /Jeera.
2 teaspoons Poppy seeds/Khas khas/Gasagase.
1 inch piece of the mild variety of Cinnamon bark available in India. If using the US variety, use half the quantity.
3-4 peels of Cardamom (without the seeds).

To be roasted/warmed separately:
1 to 1-1/2 cup Grated dry copra.
Pinch of nutmeg(jaiphal/jaakai) and mace(jaivitri/jaapathre).

1. Dry roast the above ingredients one by one preferably in the same order as given above.


2. Switch off the stove, transfer the contents to a plate to let cool. Now add copra, nutmeg and jaadi pathre to the frying pan. These ingredients will get warm and crisp because of the heat of the pan and that will suffice.


3. Grind everything(except copra, nutmeg and mace into a smooth powder. It need not be very fine, can be a little coarse, but not too coarse.


4. Now separately grind the copra, nutmeg and mace and set aside.

Ingredients for the dish:

1 cup of Toor dal/Togaribele.
1-1/4 cup good quality rice.
1 to 1-1/2 cup Spice powder – can be adjusted according to requirement.
Tamarind -size of a big lemon.
Salt to taste.
Vegetables – an assortment of different vegetables like beans, carrot, potato, kohlrabi, cluster beans, double beans etc. The vegetables need to be cut into 1 to 1-1/2 inch pieces.
2 capsicums, 2-3 tomatoes, and peas to be cut and kept separately.
Finally, the ground copra nutmeg and mace mixture.

Method:

1. Wash the Toor dal thoroughly. In a big pressure cooker, put the dal and 2-3 tumblers of water. Add a ¼ teaspoon of turmeric and place on the stove on medium flame.


2. Close the lid but do not put the weight. Stir occasionally and let the dal cook slowly.


3. When the dal is half cooked, add the cut vegetables (except capsicum, tomato and peas). Let the vegetables cook for 10-12 minutes. Once they are a little soft, add just enough salt for the vegetables. Close the lid, stir occasionally and let the veggies cook well.


4. Meanwhile, wash the rice well and keep it soaked in the water.


5. Once the dal and vegetables are cooked well, add tamarind pulp, and enough salt (keeping in mind the quantity of rice that you will be adding soon). After 5 minutes, add the spice powder. To avoid it becoming lumpy, mix it in a glass of water and then add it to the cooking mixture.


6. Let the spice powder, salt, tamarind, veggies and the dal cook well and blend well. At this point add ½ cup of oil along with 1-2 teaspoons of ghee. Once the mixture gives a good aroma, add the soaked rice after draining the water.
   Keep stirring and wait for the rice to get cooked. The rice grains will bloom once they are cooked and slowly they will blend with the rest of the gravy. Keep the dish on the stove further for another 15 minutes till the dal and rice just become one and the dal has shed its essence fully. You could again add oil and/or ghee again at this point.


7. Now, in another kadai, place 3-4 teaspoons of oil. Add the capsicum, tomato and peas and sauté till they are crisp. Add salt just enough for these veggies. Now add the copra mixture to this and mix well. Switch off the stove and add this to the Bisi bele bhath mixture. Mix well and continue to cook for another 10 minutes till everything mixes and blends into a one whole.


8. Switch off.
   

Seasoning:

Fry some cashews in ghee. For the seasoning, place 2-3 teaspoons of oil, add mustard, curry leaves and whole red chillies and asafoetida. Add the seasoning to the Bisi bele bhath and garnish with fried cashews.
Serve the Bisi bele bhath hot with a spoon of ghee and tomato-cucumber raitha or potato chips. It tastes divine even when cold.

Variation: The same dish can be prepared by substituting Moong dal for Toor dal and the firm kind of Poha(Beaten rice) for Rice. The method is the same.

Postscript:

This is a time consuming method of preparing Bisi bele bhath, but this is the authentic way of preparing it. My mother used to prepare it this way and as a child I remember how much I used to enjoy it. One can pressure cook the dal and vegetables and apply shortcuts but then one has to compromise on taste!! The best way is the open cooking method. Oil and ghee contents can be restricted according to one’s taste and health requirements. A difficult and time-consuming recipe but worth the effort!!!!