Bisibelabath with deep fried appadam or potato chips is a filling meal Govinda Dasu appreciates. It is a sumptuous meal, especially on weekends. Couple of helpings followed by creamy perugannam (dadhojanam – yogurt rice) in the afternoon gives you enough energy for the day.
(todo: video and backstory this weekend!)
Ingredients:
Steps:
- In a pan, add 1 tablespoon oil, after 1 min, add methi seeds – ¼ spoon, chane ka dal – 2 teaspoons, dhania seeds – 2 teaspoons, red chillies 4, cloves 3, cinnamon sticks 4 – add the ingredients in this order.
- Roast them until chane ka dal is golden in color. Make sure dal or red chillies do not get burnt.
- Leave it aside to cool. When it is cooled, add 2 tablespoons of grated fresh coconut. Grind it smoothly and set aside.
- Soak a medium lemon sized ball of tamarind in 1 cup of warm water. After 10 minutes, squeeze tamarind nicely. Filter the tamarind juice with hand or chai filter. After extracting 1 cup of tamarind juice, add 1 more cup of warm water in the bowl with the same tamarind pulp. Squeeze and extract again to get 2 cups of tamarind juice.
- 2 medium sized potatoes, 3-4 carrots, 10-15 green beans, 2 tablespoons of peas. Cut up potatoes into medium sized square pieces and carrots, beans into medium pieces.
- In a large vessel, wash and add 1 cup of arhar ka dal (kaddi pappu or toor dal). Add 2 cups of water. Let it cook for 10-15 minutes until dal is 60 % cooked.
- Add 2 cups of washed rice. Add 4-5 cups of water.
- Add all the vegetables. If using frozen partially cooked peas which will cook faster, add them after 10 minutes.
- Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Add 1-2 cups of water.
- Stir well and keep stirring until all the content looks 90% cooked.
- Add tamarind juice.
- Stir well.
- Add ground bisibela masala.
- Stir and let it cook for 5-7 minutes.
- By this time, all dal, rice and vegetables will be cooked nicely.
- Taste and ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt if needed.
- Set it aside.
- In a small pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil. After 1 minute, add 3 teaspoons of mustard seeds, sprinkle of hing and 6-8 curry patha leaves after mustard splutters, add this thadka (thirapatha) to cooked bisibela. Mix nicely. Add 2-3 slices of butter if desired.
Alternate easier method is :
- Cook dal, rice and vegetables with salt together in a pressure cooker.
- Boil tamarind essence with masala in a separate pan for 5 minutes.
- Mix boiled essence with cooked dal,rice, and veggies and add ¼ cup water if needed and cook together for 2 mins.
- Now add thadka.