Bisibelebath

Pritham had asked me to post this recipe on hot curry recently & since we'd cooked up this wholesome dish for our guests yday, thought I'll tote it up for him. Bisibelebath is a wholesome meal that is easy to cook and is quite a favorite at home and among my friends & family. MTR has a wide range of ready to use powders including the one for bisibelebath but here's a recipe from mom's kitchen that you should try.The variation here is adding MTR Sambar powder instead of the one for Bisibelebath, I find it a lot more tastier & has a wonderul flavour to it. I normally cook it in the pressure cooker straight up.

Ingredients
1 big onion (sliced)
4 tomatoes (chopped)
Chopped Vegetables (carrot, beans, potato & green peas)
2 ½ tsp MTR Sambar powder
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp Chili powder (optional)
3-4 tbsp Tamarind paste (will vary if you’re using concentrate)
3 tsp brown sugar (jaggery)
3 – 4 tbsp Ghee (Must be made with Ghee)
Chopped Coriander
1 Cup Rice (Washed & drained)
1 Cup Tuvar Daal (Washed & drained)
Salt to taste

Tempering:
4 – 5 Cloves
1 Bay leaf
1 stick Cinnamon
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 sprig Curry leaves
4 – 5 Pepper corns
3 Dried red chilies

(The proportion is always half of each i.e daal to rice & water is 1:3, in this case we can add 5 cups of water and 1 more cup for the veggies (if they’re not frozen). I normally like bisibelebath soggy so I add upto 6 or 7 cups of water.

Method:
Add 2 tablespoons of ghee into a pan, add all the ingredients for tempering and fry for a few minutes. Now add the Onions, fry until transparent, add the tomatoes and chopped vegetables. Add Turmeric & tamarind paste. Now add the rice and tuvar daal. Fry well for a few seconds.
Now add 6 – 7 cups of water, salt, chili powder, MTR sambar powder and Jaggery. Do a taste test and adjust the proportion of jaggery, salt & tamarind accordingly.

Now add lots of chopped coriander, put everything in a pressure cooker and allow to cook for 2 to 3 whistles. Once done, add a nice big blob of Ghee to top it off.

Serve with Potato chips & Raita
Cuisine: South Indian