Authentic Bisibela bath -an Indian Lentil Rice in a tamarind sauce

My husband’s colleague, who is from Mangalore (India) made Carrot halwa. I haven’t made carrot halwa for a while (2 plus years :P- since turning vegan-cos it has too much ghee and people in recent years have started using condensed milk). He gulped it in a minute- An entire box filled with Carrot Halwa while I was watching. Have to make a vegan version of it soon.

So he wanted me to make something back for this wonderful colleague of his. My mum has this authentic Bisibela Bath (Lentil rice) recipe that I wrote down before the wedding. Took me 25 mins to process the recipe. I chucked the paper away -Was way too complex for me.  My husband found the paper and suggested that I shouldn’t be giving up and make it for his colleague. I rewrote the recipe and made it as easy as I could make it 🙂 It was such a big hit when I took it over to friend’s and his colleague loved it too 🙂

This is what you need-A spice mix exclusively for the rice. This is the recipe for the spice mix. You can make heaps and store it in a container

For the spice mix You need- this will make about 5 Tbsp

• Coriander seeds-2 heaped Tbsp
• Bengal Gram/Split Chickpeas/Channa Dal-1 heaped Tbsp
• White Lentils-1 heaped Tbsp
• Poppy seeds-1/2 Tbsp
• Cloves-4
• Cinnamon-couple of tiny pieces
• Red chilies-10
• A piece of star anise
• Fenugreek seeds-1/2 tsp
• Coconut oil -1 tsp

PLUS

• Desiccated coconut-2 heaped Tbsp (to be dry roasted separately until golden brown)

 

Method:

• You add Coconut oil and all the above spices roast until brown.
• Grind everything together and store in an air tight container

 

 Now goes the recipe for the lentil rice.

BISIBELA BATH RECIPE

Ingredients you need:

• Coconut oil-1 Tbsp (Recipe calls for Ghee-Coconut oil made this rice so rich-better than ghee my mum adds onto it)
• Tamarind pulp-a small lime sized quantity-tightly packed-take a tbsp press as much as tamarind you can in there. that’s half a lime quantity. So times 2. [soak that in 1 cup of water-juices extracted once, then another cup of water for the 2nd extract, another 1/2 cup for 3rd extract]
• Mustard seeds-1 heaped Tbsp
• Bisibela bath spice powder-2 heaped Tbsp+1 tsp
• Shallots-10-15
• Asafoetida-1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves-1 sprig
• Cashews-10-15
• 3/4 cup white rice
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Split Pigeon Peas
• 1 carrot-chopped into chunks
• 1 potato-chopped into chunks
• Few Green beans-chopped roughly
• Green peas-a handful
• Chokos-de-seeded and roughly chopped
• Eggplant-1 medium sized-roughly chopped
• Turmeric powder-1 tsp
• Salt-needed
• 1/2 tomato-roughly chopped

 

Method:

• In a pressure cooker or a large stockpot, add all the ingredients starting from white rice until tomatoes and cook until mushy. For 1 cups of rice and lentils, add 3.5 cups of water-so it well done 🙂 [if you are pressure cooking, You can boil vegetables first, mash them and then boil rice and lentils together (porridge-like consistency]
• While you are cooking the lentils, rice and veges, in large stockpot,, add coconut oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida and then add Shallots in and let it brown outside
• Add 3 extracts of tamarind water, bisibela spice mix, salt for that and let it boil for 12 mins on medium heat
• Now, transfer the cooked vegetables, rice and lentils mixture into the stockpot and mash them with the back of the laddle and stir until it thickens a little. It has to be like a thick porridge 🙂

• Add a tsp of coconut oil in a small pan,  add cashews, roast until brown and pour them over the lentil rice.
• In the same pan, add 1.5 Tbsp of heaped desiccated coconut, roast until brown and add it too.
• Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with popadums 🙂