Amma has learnt this method from her mother, in the days when the
pressure cooker did not exist and what they had was the Rukmini cooker.
Yet it is the most efficient & quick way of making the rice dish
that can be made in laborious ways for the richness & delicacy of
it.
Veggies: the traditional ones - cubed potatoes, cubed sweet potatoes, flat beans, carrots, bringal, pumpkin, onion, tomatoes, raw bananas
rice - 2 cups; tur dal - 1 cup, tamarind - a medium lemon sized ball + a little more
for the masala: 2 tbs coriander seeds, 1 1/2 tbs chana dal, few cloves, cinnamon, 4 to 5 red chillies [bedige type], hing, few curry leaves, 2 tbs grated copra
for garnishing: 4 tbs groundnuts, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp chana dal, hing, curry leaves [in plenty]
salt, turmeric powder, a good piece of jaggery
Cut the veggies to a fair size. The size is decided by how easily the veggie cooks, so smaller cubes of potatoes, carrots, whereas larger peieces of pumpkin, bringals etc..
Wash the rice & keep aside. so also the dal
In a skillet take a little oil, roast the coriander seeds to until slightly red & fragrant, keep aside. Roast the chana dal next & keep aside. Roast the cloves, cinnamon, red chillies, piece of hing & curry leaves. Add grated copra, saute & take off the gas. Once cooled, grind the masala in a dry grinder.
Soak the tamarind in warm water.
In a pressure cooker, put the washed rice in the bottom layer. Add layers of vegetables - where the harder to cook ones go the bottom with the softer, mushier veggies as subsequent layers. Squeeze the tamarind pulp, add its juice completely. Keep a count of water [including tamarind juice] added. It must provide for cooking the rice, dal & 1 measure for the veggies. Add 1 tbs of sambar powder, turmeric, salt & jaggery.
Cook tur dal in another cooker.
Once both the cookers can be released, mix dal in the bisi bele misture. Add to it the ground masala & bring to cook. The rice is is a semi solid, which thickens as it cools. Take a generous amount of ghee [3 tbs], fry the garnish elements. Add it to the cooked rice.
It is best had when hot but equally so, Bisi Bele is very tasty when it has sat thru' the day soaking in each of the spices & veggie tastes. Have it with fried appalam & boondi raita. Yummy. A great family sit down Sunday lunch. That's when amma makes it, so that one can soon after settle into the sweet Sunday siesta :-)
Veggies: the traditional ones - cubed potatoes, cubed sweet potatoes, flat beans, carrots, bringal, pumpkin, onion, tomatoes, raw bananas
rice - 2 cups; tur dal - 1 cup, tamarind - a medium lemon sized ball + a little more
for the masala: 2 tbs coriander seeds, 1 1/2 tbs chana dal, few cloves, cinnamon, 4 to 5 red chillies [bedige type], hing, few curry leaves, 2 tbs grated copra
for garnishing: 4 tbs groundnuts, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp chana dal, hing, curry leaves [in plenty]
salt, turmeric powder, a good piece of jaggery
Cut the veggies to a fair size. The size is decided by how easily the veggie cooks, so smaller cubes of potatoes, carrots, whereas larger peieces of pumpkin, bringals etc..
Wash the rice & keep aside. so also the dal
In a skillet take a little oil, roast the coriander seeds to until slightly red & fragrant, keep aside. Roast the chana dal next & keep aside. Roast the cloves, cinnamon, red chillies, piece of hing & curry leaves. Add grated copra, saute & take off the gas. Once cooled, grind the masala in a dry grinder.
Soak the tamarind in warm water.
In a pressure cooker, put the washed rice in the bottom layer. Add layers of vegetables - where the harder to cook ones go the bottom with the softer, mushier veggies as subsequent layers. Squeeze the tamarind pulp, add its juice completely. Keep a count of water [including tamarind juice] added. It must provide for cooking the rice, dal & 1 measure for the veggies. Add 1 tbs of sambar powder, turmeric, salt & jaggery.
Cook tur dal in another cooker.
Once both the cookers can be released, mix dal in the bisi bele misture. Add to it the ground masala & bring to cook. The rice is is a semi solid, which thickens as it cools. Take a generous amount of ghee [3 tbs], fry the garnish elements. Add it to the cooked rice.
It is best had when hot but equally so, Bisi Bele is very tasty when it has sat thru' the day soaking in each of the spices & veggie tastes. Have it with fried appalam & boondi raita. Yummy. A great family sit down Sunday lunch. That's when amma makes it, so that one can soon after settle into the sweet Sunday siesta :-)
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