BisiBele Bath

Probably the most favorite dish for most people in Karnataka.My husband being born and brought up in Bangalore also loves this dish.I used to be very skeptic to try this because of a funny story his room mates used to tell me.Before we got married one of their friends, a girl offered to make them Bisibele bath and all the hungry bachelors gathered in his room to eat it, this girl kept cooking for about 4 hours,while they all waited and got very hungry by the end, only to realize it wasn’t cooked right and they had to order food outside.I thought it would be a very difficult recipe.However my mother in law encouraged me to make it and it turned out really good.

Preparation time	40 minutes
Serves	6
Serving Size	1/6
Calories Per Serving	Approximately 335 per serving
Difficulty	Medium

Ingredients:
1 recipe Bisibele bath powder
1/2 cup toor dal soaked in water for 1 hour
1 cup basmati rice
salt to taste
1 teaspoon tamarind paste(adjust to your taste and the tanginess of the paste used)
6 green chili
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon cashew nuts
1 tablespoon ghee
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup peas
1 cup corn+bell peppers(optional)
1 tablespoon coconut milk

Procedure:
1.In a pressure cooker place the rice and toor dal with 5 1/2 cups of water and cook for 2 whistles and turn off.

2.In a different pan add the ghee and saute the cashew nuts for 1 minute, then add the carrots and peas and cook until cooked.

3.Add the spice powder and the bell peppers and corn and cook well.

4.Add the tamarind paste and mix once and transfer to the cooked rice and combine well.Adjust spices and salt.Add coconut milk mix once and turn off the stove.

Tips:
If using regular rice you dont need to soak the dal in advance for 1 hour.30 mins should suffice.
I only needed 3/4 recipe of spice powder so adjust to your taste.
You can also use vegetables like eggplant, potatoes etc, make sure they are cooked before adding to the rice.
Coconut milk is optional but I like it with it.
Serve it with boondi or papad and potato fry