Bisibele Bhath, curd rice and beans thoran

Bisibele bhath is a traditional Karnataka cuisine which is relished with boondi, chips or mixture.

We being from Palakkad loves to enjoy this delicious dish with subzi, Raitha and other accompaniments.

Curd rice is an integral part of our daily meals, so with bisibele bhath we make curd rice also. 

Bisi in kannada means hot. So hot hot bisibele bhath for you. It's also called 3 B's as a short form! 

Bisibele bhath

Ingredients 

  1 cup Basmathi  rice

  1/2 cup Tuvar dal 

  1 teaspoon gingly Oil 

  5 tablespoons of ghee 

  1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder

  10 shallots     

  10 French  beans 

  10 avarakkai / hyacinth beans

  2 medium sized  carrots

  2 medium sized  Potatoes 

A few curry leaves 

1 green Capsicum chopped into small pieces 

1/2 cup fresh peas/frozen

 For dry roasting (This powder goes into bisibele bhath towards the end of the process andvit taste good) 

 1 teaspoon Coriander  seeds

 6 to 7  Red chillies (I use 4 for colour and 3 for spice) 

 2 teaspoon   Chana dal 

 1 teaspoon  Urad dal 

 1/2 teaspoon methi seeds (you can skip this as we will adding methi seeds in the tadka) 

A small piece of heeng cake 

 1 inch piece Cinnamon 

 3 to 4 Cloves

 3 green cardamom 

 2 Bay leaves

 

Dry roast and make coarse powder 

(You can use MTR bisibele bhath powder 2 tbsp instead of making roast masala powder,  as I did yesterday) 

  For the Tadka

   1 teaspoon Mustard seeds 

   1/2 teaspoon Methi seeds

   A few curry leaves 

   Salt as required

tamarind pulp - 2 tbsp (soak and cook tamarind and extract pulp), 

yesterday I have soaked lemon sized tamarind in warm water, extract the liquid by squeezing out the tamarind, which was later boiled for about 10 minutes till the raw smell goes away. 

Method 

*Wash and mix tuvar dal and rice togther. Keep aside for 20 minutes in the meantime you can do rest of the preparations. 

*Cut potato, beans, capsicum carrot and onion into cubes. In a heated pan add cinnamon stick, clove, bay leaves and elachi allow it to release its aroma.

* Add chopped vegetables, green peas, onion first then other vegetables. 

*Just saute for 5 minutes. In pressure cooker add washed rice, dal and add vegetables.add turmeric powder, Add  5 cups of water(I used room temperature water) and cook till two whistles.

* Now add tamarind pulp /( boil tamarind juice for a good 10 minutes till the raw smell goes away) and further boil for about 5 minutes, at this stage you can add 2 cups of boiling water to adjust the consistency of your bisibele bhath which is served semi solid. 

*Add bisebele bhath powder. Mix well. 

*In a small heated pan pour ghee add mustard let it splutter,add methi seeds,  Add chopped capsicum,  curry leaves and coriander leaves. 

*Saute for two minutes and add to prepared bisibele bhath. 

*Serve Bisibele bhath garnish with Kara boondi, Raitha, beans thoran/ bhindi subzi and crispy potato or banana chips. 

Beans and carrot thoran(where grated coconut is used) 

Ingredients

250 grams Beans 

2 medium sized carrots 

1 green chilly 

2 tbsp coconut 

A few curry leaves 

salt to taste

For frying

2 tsp coconut oil/ sunflower oil 

1/2 tsp mustard seed 

1/2 tsp urad dal 

1 broken red chilli

Method 

*Wash, trim the edges of beans and carrot  chop into small pieces. 

*In a heated kadai pour oil add mustard seeds,urad dal allow mustard to crackle. Add broken chilly. 

*Now add chopped beans and carrot. Allow it to cook in high flame, stirring occasionally. 

*You can add or sprinkle a little water if you wish to beans so that it gets cooked faster. In a mixer grind coconut and green chilly add this to the cooked soft, tender beans. 

*Mix well add curry leaves. Serve with Bisibele bhath.

Curd rice

Ingredients

1/2 cup Rice 

1/4 cup boiled and cooled milk 

3 cups curd 

salt as required

For tadka

1 tsp gingly oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp urad dal 

curry leaves - a few

green chilly - 2

ginger - a small piece

4 curd chilli/tayir molagai

Method 

*Wash and cook rice adding 2 cups of water in pressure cooker. 

*Remove from stove allow the rice to reach normal temperature. 

*You can spread rice on a plate for cooling down. 

*Place the rice in a bowl add 1/4 glass of milk(boiled and cooled) and 3 cups of tayir(curd) use your hand to smash the rice. 

*If you wish you can use a hand blender in low speed. 

*You can also add a cup of water if the curd rice is too thick. 

*The curd rice should be semi solid state.

*In a small heated pan pour oil add mustard and urad dal, allow mustard to crackle.

* Now add chopped green chilly, ginger and heeng powder and curry leaves. Saute for a while add the tadka to prepared curd rice. 

*Add fried tayir molagai. Serve it with choice of your favourite pickle. 

Gooseberry pickle

Now I am going to show you how to make an all time favourite- Gooseberry Pickle. This pickle is usually eaten with curd (yoghurt) and rice.

Gooseberry / amla / nellikai pickle

Ingredients:

Gooseberries - 1/2 kg

Turmeric powder -1 teaspoon

For dry roast:

Dried red chillies - 150 gm ( I used 50 gm long, 50 gm badigay n 50 gm gunttur chilli)

Kayam / heeng - 20gm( a large piece)

Methi / fenugreek leaves - 1 teaspoon

Salt - as required

For tadka (tempering)

Gingelly (til) oil - 3 table spoon

Mustard seeds -1/2 teaspoon

Method of preparation:

In a thick bottom vessel cook the amla along with half a teaspoon turmeric powder for about 10 minutes, while adding water.

Make sure the amla is completely soaked in water.

Once cooked remove it from water. Do not throw the boiled water, keep it in a cup. Now de-seed the gooseberries and cut them into small pieces. Keep aside.

In a clean kadai/pan at a slow fire put the dried red chillies, methi and hing and the rest half of the teaspoon of the turmeric powder. Fry it till all ingredients release their aroma. 

Note:  fry each ingredient separately for best flavor.

 Grind to a fine powder in a mixer.

Now place a thick bottom kadai and pour the oil. Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and wait for it to crackle. Now carefully add the chopped gooseberries and mix well.  Make sure the oil has been coated on all the pieces by mixing it with a dry,clean, ladle.

Add salt and the roasted powder. Mix it well. Allow the gooseberries to completely get coated in the ground spices. Remove the pan from the flame and wait for the gooseberry pickle to reach room temperature.

Store in clean glass jars and make sure they are air tight. For a long shelf life, refrigerate it. 

 Remember!! never leave steel spoon inside the pickle...

How to grow moong dal sprouts and microgreens at home.

Growing moong dal sprouts.

Ingredients

100 grams whole moong dal

2 cups water to soak it

Method

*Wash and soak the moong dal for about 6 to 8 hours.

* Drain the excess water. Close the bowl with a lid. Let it sprout. First day a little, second day it will still grow, mix it and put a napkin on top of the bowl. It will absorb excess moisture.

*Day 3 and 4 you can start using the sprouts in salads, parathas and other dishes.

Day 5 to 7 it will become bigger and longer, use it as an ingredient in soups, and salads.

Day 8 to 10 you will get fully grown up microgreens, enjoy with your choice of dishes.

Notes

I have not added any water to the bowl. I think once they ate soaked for 6 to 8 hours on the first day, they don't require any further spraying of water.