Bisi bele bath recipe explained with step by step pictures and a video. Bisi bele bath is most popular recipe from Karnataka. Bisi bele bath or bhath is a rice-lentil-vegetables based dish, which translates to "hot lentil rice" in Kannada language. It is also known as Bisi bele huliyanna, which means "hot lentil sour rice". The traditional preparation of this dish is quite elaborate and involves the use of spicy masala, toor dal and vegetables. Various spices used in its preparation contribute to the unique flavour and taste of this dish. It is served hot and sometimes eaten along with salad or kara boondi. You can find one more avalakki bisi bele bath or poha bisibele bath on this website.
Even though the original process is lenghty, here is the simple version of the same without compromising the taste. I have also included the recipe of bisi bele bath masala powder here. You can even use ready made bisi bele bath masala powder availabe in the shops but fresh home made masala tastes much better. Or if you wish to prepare bisi bele bath powder in large quantity and store it, then check my bisi bele bath powder recipe post.
If you are looking for more popular breakfast recipes from Karnataka, then do check my masala dosa, neer dosa, rave uppittu, vegetable palav, tomato bath, chithranna, akki rotti, puliyogare and pongal recipes. We have posted many more tasty recipes in our breakfast recipes section.
I have made a video on this bisibele bath recipe with Kannada narration, which I have embedded it below. Kindly have a look.
Bisi bele bath recipe
Preparation time: 30 min
Cooking time: 1 hr
Serves: 4
Ingredients: (measuring cup used = 120ml)
- 3/4 cup toor dal
- 1 cup rice (preferably sona masoori)
- 10 nos of beans
- 1 carrot
- 1 Kohlrabi/Knolkol/Navilkosu or little cabbage/cauliflower
- 1 small brinjal (optional)
- 1/2 capsicum (optional)
- 1 potato
- 2 tbsp soaked ground nuts
- 2 tbsp soaked green peas
- 2 medium sized tomato chopped
- 1 small gooseberry sized tamarind
- 1 small lemon sized jaggery
- Salt as per your taste
Ingredients required for masala powder:
- 2-4 red chilly
- 1 tsp channa dal
- 2 tsp Urad dal
- 1/4 tsp meethi/fenugreek seeds
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp jeera/ cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- A big pinch of asafoetida
- 1/2 finger length cinnamon
- 10 cloves/lavang
- 1 cardamom
- 1 tsp poppy seeds/ khus khus
- 2 tbsp dessicated coconut/grated coconut
- 1/2 tsp cooking oil
Ingredients required for tempering:
- 1/2 tsp mustard
- 1 tsp chana dal or gram dal
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 8-10 cashews
- 7 - 8 curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 6 tsp ghee or cooking oil
Instructions for making bisi bele bath:
- To begin with to prepare bisi bele bath, take toor dal in the pressure cooker and rinse well.
- After rinsing, add in 2 cups of water, a pinch of turmeric powder and few drops of oil and make 2 whistles. After this stage the dal will be half cooked.
- Chop all the vegetables and keep it ready.
- Take rice, ground nut and green peas in a container, rinse well and keep it aside.
- Now add in chopped vegetables, rinsed rice, green peas and ground nuts to the same cooker, which has half cooked dal. Add in 4 cups of water. A tsp of salt and cook them by making 2 more whistles.
- Now parallely to make bisibele bath masala powder, take 1/2 tsp of oil in a frying pan. Keep the stove on medium flame. To begin with add red chilis and fry. When chilies are roasted, add in channa dal (gram dal) and urad dal. Fry until dals are slightly roasted.
- Add in mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds. Fry for few seconds.
- Add in cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Fry for few seconds.
- Add in asafoetida and poppy seeds. Fry for few more seconds. Make sure you don't burn any of them. If you feel so reduce the flame further.
- Now switch off the stove, wait until the ingredients are cool.
- Transfer the roasted spices into a mixie jar and make a fine powder.
- Add grated coconut or copra and dry grind it again.
- So bisibele bath masala powder is ready. Keep it aside.
- After this take a frying pan or wok and prepare tempering using oil, mustard seeds, channa dal, urad dal and cashews. Once urad dal turns brown,add turmeric powder, curry leaves and switch off the stove.
- Now immediately add ground bisibele bath masala powder and mix.
- Add in salt, jaggery, tamarind extract and mix.
- Once the pressure subsidies, open the lid. You can see rice and dal are well cooked.
- Now either you can add the tempered masala to the cooker, which has cooked rice, dal and vegetables. Or otherwise add in cooked dal, vegetables and rice to the frying pan, which has tempered masala.
- Add in enough water (approximately 4 cups) to get the right consistency. Bisi bele bath should have thin consistency.
- Switch on the stove and bring it to boil by stirring continuously. Add in a tsp of ghee at the end and serve. Tasty bisi bele bath ready to eat.
Bisi bele bath should be served hot, so is the name "hot-lentil-rice". Serve it with raitha or papad or chips or kara boondi or mixture, which ever you prefer.
Dear reader, We have a Kannada version of this recipe. Click here to read this recipe in Kannada.
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