Bisibelebath

Hi there.......I know I know, it's been ages since I updated my blog. I'm guilty and won't give you any more excuses. Infact....I'll get right to the recipes rather than boring you with my talk. Sorry again.

Another Karnataka favourite....Bisibelebath (BBB). There are a lot of recipes out there for BBB. Store bought powders are good but preparing fresh powder brings out the intense flavors of all the spices used and the taste is heavenly. This is my mother-in-law's recipe and an all-time favorite in our family. I guarantee you will be pleased with yourself when you prepare this dish. You'll see it's not that a big deal to make BBB too. Come on in and we'll gather all the ingredients....

Serves 4:
Toor Dal -> 1 cup
Rice -> 1/2 cup
(Sona Masoori or regular kind, not basmathi)
Mixed Diced vegetables -> 2-3 cups ( more the veggies,the healthier)
( Beans, Carrots, Potato, Capsicum/green pepper, Onion, Chow-chow/chayote, Knol-kohl/kohlrabi)
Dry Copra or dry coconut -> 1/4 cup grated

STEP 1
Take a big vessel and add about 2 Tbs of oil, washed toor dal, a pinch of turmeric and 6 cups of water. Boil till the toor dal is almost done. This will take about 1/2 an hour. Toor dal can also be pressure cooked but make sure it's not overcooked. While the dal is getting cooked , step 2 can be prepared.


STEP 2 - BBB powder ingredients:
Channa dal/ Kadlebele -> 2 tsp heaped (i normally use the white plastic disposable spoon)
Urad dal/uddinbele -> 1 tsp heaped
Dalchini/cinnamom bark/ chakke -> 6-8 half inch pieces
Lavang/ cloves/lavanga -> 5-6
Elaichi/Cardamom/yelakki -> 2
Methi seeds/ menthya -> about 8 seeds
Dhania seeds/ coriander seeds -> 1/4 cup
Dry red chillies -> about 10 depending upon spice consumed
Curry leaves -> a few sprigs



Take a drop of ghee/clarified butter and fry all the above dry ingredients in the same order....dals first and once they turn reddish-brown, the others follow. Fry till a nice aroma picks up. Cool and powder it.

STEP 3
Wash and drain the rice and add to the boiled dal along with the mixed diced vegetables. Add water such that the vegetables are just immersed and boil. When the rice is half done, add salt and dry copra. Mix in about 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste and stir well. By now the consistency should have picked up to a semi solid state.


STEP 4
Add water to the BBB powder from step 2 and make it into a paste. This avoids the powder getting clumped. If powder is added directly to the boiling mixture, clumps form and the powder dosen't get mixed in well.


STEP 5 - Bringing it all together:
Mix in the BBB powder paste to the step 3 mixture and check for salt. Make sure the BBB is a little watery otherwise it will become hard when it cools. Switch off the stove after a single boil. Season with mustard seeds, Asafoetida/heeng and curry leaves. Enjoy with a dollop of ghee and potato chips or papad.