Bisi Bele Bhaat

I love one pot dishes as they are easy to cook.
Bisi Bele Bhaat has been a personal favorite dish since years but we never tried it at home. I always thought of it as a complex dish because of the sheer mix of spices and hence used to order it frequently at Udipi restaurants. So on a lazy Sunday, as I was browsing the internet for a one pot dish, I stumbled upon this dish and thought of cooking it. It took me less than one hour to cook this but the flavours in the dish are amazing and so worth the effort.

Here is the recipe I followed.

1. Take 2tbsp of ghee/cooking oil in a pressure cooker
2. Add 1 tbsp of mustard seeds, 1tbsp cumin seeds, 2 dried red chillies, 1 onion diced into cubes, 2 green chilli slit in the centre, 2 twigs of curry leaves and then 1 pinch of asafoetida in that order on medium flame.
3. When onion is slightly brown add 2 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste
4. Add 1 carrot, around ½ cup of cauliflower, ½ cup of beans, ½ cup of peas, ½ cup of okra, 3-4 small sized brinjal all diced into ½ inch cubes. No fine cutting required here as the vegetables melt down in this recipe.
5. Add a pinch of turmeric as you sauté the vegetables on medium flame
6. After 5 mins, add 1 cup of toor daal (which has been pre-soaked in water for half an hour after draining the water) and 3 cups of rice (again soaked in water for half an hour and drained)
7. Add 1 tomato diced into cubes

8. Add water (quantity should be so much that there is one inch of water on top of the rice).I like it a bit runny and hence added a lot of water

9. Cook on medium heat for at least 2 whistles

10. Once you put of the pressure cooker, wait for the pressure to ease and open the lid. Add 1 cup of tamarind water and 5-6 tbsp Bisi Bele Bhaat masala(see below).Adjust the water if needed according to your liking.

11. Cook some more till the masalas are well dissolved

12. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander. Serve with raita and papad.

Method of the Bisi Bele Bhaat masala
Dry roast 6 dried red chillies, 1 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 2 inch cinnamon, 5-6 cloves, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 2tbsp chana dal and 2tbsp urad dal on low flame. You can add pieces of coconut around 1tbsp to this. Once you can smell the spices and they are little brown, grind the powders to a coarse paste.

This dish can serve 6 people. One can experiment with the vegetables but brinjal gives this dish a distinctive flavor and hence don’t miss this ingredient

Recipe inspired from Vahrevah.com