Bisi Bele Bath Recipe | Hot Lentil Rice -Karnataka Style

Bisi bele bath is one of the popular recipes from Karnataka. It is tasty and nutritious balanced meal made with rice, lentils and vegetables.

Other Karnataka Dishes which are very popular are : Vangi Bath , Tomato Bath , Vegetable Bath, Hirealekayi Chitranna , Akki Roti , Masala Lemon Rice and Puliyogare.

About this recipe

Bisi Bele Bath is a spicy vegetable rice and dal/lentil based dish from Karnataka. In Kannada ,Bisi means hot , bele meaning dal. As this rice is prepared with dal and is served piping hot topped with ghee, its named as Bisi Bele Bath. Most important key for this dish is bisi bele bath masala powder.

Making bisi bele bath spice powder is quite easy . To make Bisi Bele Bath powder, roast all spices together and powder it. I have shared a separate post on how to make bisi bele bath powder.

Ingredients , tips and variations

• Dal / Lentils - Traditionally only Toor Dal is used to make bisi bele bath . Equal proportion of lentils to rice is taken as measurements , 1: 1 ratio is usually followed. But if you wish you can used ⅓ cup of dal for every ½ cup of rice.
• Rice - any short grain rice or any regular rice works well here . We generally use sona masuri , rajmuddi , Indrayani or any less polished rice can be used. If short grain is not available , then you can use basmati rice too.
• Vegetables - Carrot , French beans , potato and capsicum are only used in this recipe. Adding tomatoes are optional , you can add 1 tomatoes if you wish. You can use fresh / frozen or dry peas in this recipe. If using dry green peas then soak for about 6-7 hours , prior to using .
• Tamarind - Soak lemon size Tamarind approximately about 1 tablespoon of tamrind pulp in warm water. Adding Tamarind juice is important in this recipe as mild sour taste is must in Bisi bele bath.
• Jaggery - Its recommended to add jaggery , you can add upto 1 tablespoon of jaggery powder. If its not available , add 1 teaspoon of sugar.
• Water : Rice+ Dal to water ratio in bisi bele bath is 1: 5 . For every 1 cup of rice and dal ( ½ cup rice +½ cup dal) , add 5 to 6 times of water.
• Bisi Bele Bath Powder - Special blend of spices , either you can make at home or use store bought . Find home made bisi ble bath powder recipe here
• Hing / Asafoetida - Tempering with big fat pinch of asafoetida is must.
• Tempering - Add Onions or shallots while tempering . Adding shallots enhances the taste of bisi bele bath .

Step by step directions to make Bisi Bele Bath:

Preparation

Roast all ingredients under bisi bele bath powder , ground to semi fine powder and keep it aside. Can refer my separate post on how to make bisi bele bath powder.

Rinse toor dal and soak for 30 minutes or more. But I prefer to soak lentils for 4hrs-6 hrs because it helps to leaches out anti nutrients.

Drain out , wash with cold water and set aside.

Rinse and soak rice for 30 minutes.

Soak lemon size , tamarind in ¼ cup warm water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, squeeze and extract tamarind juice and discard residue.

Directions

Firstly ,in a pressure cooker, take soaked toor dal, pinch of salt, 2-3 drops of oil and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Cook dal well ,until its completely mushy.

Whilst ,In another pressure cooker, add 1tbsp of oil , curry leaves and hing.

Add all vegetables and green peas , give a quick stir . Can add pinch of turmeric too. I have not added because I didn’t wanted bisi bele bath to turn more yellowish in colour.

Add ½ cup of soaked rice ,

Now add 3 cups of water and ½ teaspoon salt and pressure cook. Alternatively, you can separately cook rice and vegetables. As it doesn’t make any difference to taste and texture of the dish, I cook vegetables and rice together.

Pressure cook for 1 whistle. When pressure settles down on it’s own, open the lid.

Now keep the cooker on low flame, add cooked dal , bisi bele bath powder , tamarind water, jaggery and salt to taste.

Combine everything,

add 3 tablespoon of oil or ghee.

Mix well , cover lid and cook on simmer for about 6-8 minutes.

Whilst prepare tempering, in a pan heat 2 tablespoon of Ghee /clarified butter. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, dry red chillies ,peanuts and cashews.

Fry well until peanuts starts to change colour, move all tempering ingredients to one corner.

Add chopped onions or shallots, hing/asafoetida and fry till translucent.

Finally ,pour this tempering over prepared bisi bele bath and mix well.

Turn off the stove, serve bisi bele bath piping hot with ghee and top with khara boondi and potato wafers.

Recipe Card

Bisi Bele Bath Recipe | Hot Lentil Rice -Karnataka Style

Karnataka Delicacy Bisibele bath is spicy, hot ,sweet and sour; one pot meal prepared with lentils , rice and Vegetables

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: South India

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Resting Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Servings : 5 People

Calories / Serving : 212

Author: Muktha H S

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ½ Cup Rice
• ½ Cup Toor Dal
• ½ Cup Green Peas ,fresh or frozen
• 5 Cups Water - refer notes
• 1 Carrot - large cut into chunks
• 2 Capsicum - large cut into chunks
• 6 Green french beans
• 2 Potatoes - Medium cut into chunks
• ¼ cup Tamarind Juice from 1 tablespoon tamrind pulp
• ½ tablespoon Jaggery powder
• 4 tablespoon Oil
• 2 teaspoon salt - or as required

For Bisibelebath Powder

Dry Roast Powder

• 1 tablespoon Chana Dal
• 1 tablespoon Urad Dal
• 1 teaspoon Khuskhus / Poppy seeds
• ¼ teaspoon Methi/Fenugreek Seeds
• ½ teaspoon Jeera seeds /Cumin Seeds
• 2 Cloves
• 1 " inch Cinnamon Stick
• 2 Marathi Moggu
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• ½ cup Dry Coconut
• 6 Dry Red Chillies , 4 guntur + 2 byadgi
• 1.5 tablespoon Coriander Seeds

For Tempering

• 2 tablespoon Ghee/Clarified Butter
• ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
• 2 tablespoon Cashews
• ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida
• 2 Sprigs Curry leaves
• 2 Dry Red Chilly - broken to pieces
• 1 Onion Chopped or Onion shallots ¼ cup - optional

Instructions

• Roast all ingredients under bisi bele bath powder , ground to semi fine powder and keep it aside. Can refer my separate post on how to make bisi bele bath powder.
• Rinse toor dal and soak for 30 minutes or more. But I prefer to soak lentils for 4hrs-6 hrs because it helps to leaches out anti nutrients.
• Drain out , wash with cold water and set aside.
• Rinse and soak rice for 30 minutes.
• Soak lemon size , tamarind in ¼ cup warm water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, squeeze and extract tamarind juice and discard residue.
• In a pressure cooker, take soaked toor dal, pinch of salt, 2-3 drops of oil and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Dal should be well cooked and completely mashed.
• In a pressure cooker, add 1tbsp of oil , curry leaves and hing. Add all vegetables and green peas , give a quick stir . Can add pinch of turmeric too. I have not added because I didn’t wanted bisi bele bath to turn more yellowish in colour.
• Add ½ cup of soaked rice , 3 cups of water and ½ teaspoon salt and pressure cook. Alternatively, you can separately cook rice and vegetables. As it doesn’t make any difference to taste and texture of the dish, I cook vegetables and rice together.
• Pressure cook for 1 whistle. When pressure settles down on it’s own, open the lid.
• Now keep the cooker on low flame, add cooked dal , bisi bele bath powder , tamarind water, jaggery and salt to taste.
• Combine everything, add 3 tablespoon of oil or ghee.
• Mix well , cover lid and cook on simmer for about 6-8 minutes.
• Whilst prepare tempering, in a pan heat 2 tablespoon of Ghee /clarified butter.
• Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, dry red chillies ,peanuts and cashews.
• Fry well until peanuts starts to change colour, move all tempering ingredients to one corner.
• Add chopped onions or shallots, hing/asafoetida and fry till translucent.
• Pour this tempering over prepared bisi bele bath and mix well.
• Turn off the stove, serve bisi bele bath piping hot with ghee and top with khara boondi and potato wafers.

Video

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Notes

• You can separately cook dal , rice and vegetables. As I found it easier to cook vegetables and rice together, I do it this way. But traditionally, everything is cooked separately and later mixed together.

• If you find it to be more thickening, you can add more water about ½ to ¾ cup later. But always add hot water only.

• Once dal is mixed with rice, keep on simmer. Never regulate to high or medium flame as bisi bele bath tends to thicken from bottom.

• I have mixed dry coconut directly while making bisi bele bath powder. In case if you are using store brought bisi bele bath powder then add ½ cup of grated/ blend dry coconut along with 4 tablespoon of bisi bele bath powder.

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Serving Suggestions :

Bisi bele bath is always served pipping hot with ghee and spicy boondi on top. Also Potato wafers and boondi bot are served along side of bisi bele bath. But it can be eaten as it own without any boondi on top. Boondi is added to get that crunchiness in every bite. Also fried peanuts, cashews and flakes of fried dry coconut are added on top while serving.

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