Bisi Bele Bath

Directions

• Cook the toor dal and tomato with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Let the dal be cooked well. Keep this aside.
• Extract the tamarind pulp from the soaked tamarind. Keep this aside.
• In a large vessel / pressure cooker, add about 3 cups of water. To this add 4 tbsp of vegetable oil and let the water come to a boil. Once water boils add in the rice and peanuts. Let the heat be high.



• Keep the vessel covered for 5 minutes.
• Add in the vegetables except for brinjal. Add in the fenugreek / methi leaves too. Add in 3 cups of water, butter, jaggery and salt. Mix gently.



• Let the mixture come to a boil. Keep covered for 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked.
• In the mean time, in a separate wok / kadai add the tamarind pulp, let this come to a boil on a high heat. Add in 8-9 teaspoons of Bisi Bele bath powder and stir well until both are combined. Let this mixture cook for about 5-7 minutes on a low heat. This is just to remove the raw smell of tamarind and the powder. Keep this aside.





• Add in the cooked toor dal and tomato. Add more water if you feel the necessity. Add the brinjal pieces. Mix gently. Let the rice be grainy. Do not over mix the mixture else the rice grains could break into bits.





• Add the tamarind + powder mixture prepared in step 7, to the rice-lentil mixture and let this come to a boil.



• Roast the poppy seeds in a small wok on a low heat for 1 minute. In a blender add in the roasted poppy seeds and grated coconut and grind to a fine paste. Add this to the bisi bele bath. Mix gently. See to it you have the rice grains unbroken. Turn off the heat.







• In a small wok add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and heat it on a low flame. Add in the mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds stop popping and then add the curry leaves and red chillies. After 5 seconds turn off the heat and add this seasoning to the prepared bisi bele bath.