Bisibele Bhat and Curd rice

Bisibele (bbb) is a traditional dish that I grew up on....lazy weekend afternoons with bisibele and curd rice along with crunchy papadums and fried chillies, followed by a nap and a movie. Sunday nites were movie nites .....those days we had only doordarshan and Sunday nite movies was a grand finale' to the weekend!! It is amazing that not much has changed, we have a variety of entertainment to choose from but Sunday afternoons are special when bbb is on the menu .....& extra special when shared with loved ones - be it family or friends and food is a big part of it, atleast in my home.

I have many variations of bbb. This is one of my favorites : a recipe given to me by my mother-in-law who is a fabulous cook!!

You will need :

1 cup : rice
3/4 cup : toor daal

Vegetables

 1-1/2 cup ash guard cut in cubes
1 cup beans cut - an inch long
3/4 cup   green peas

2-3 tbsp tamarind pulp

lemon size jaggery
pinch turmeric
salt to taste

For the masala
1 tbsp cumin
little  black pepper
4 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp chana daal
4-5 small pieces of cinnamon
3/4 tbsp fenugreek  seeds
6-7 whole dried red chillies
handful dry coconut


roast the masala in a few drops of oil and make a dry powder or a wet paste. Make sure you do not over roast the red chilly or the dry coconut, so add it only after the other ingredients are roasted.

Mix the daal and rice, wash and add 2 cups of water and cook in the conventional pressure cooker till the rice is done. To the cooked rice and daal add cooked vegetables, tamarind, turmeric, jaggery, salt and bbb powder/paste, bring to a boil, add water if required.

 Tempering: heat 1tsp ghee, add mustard, let it splatter now add cashew nuts, asafoetida(hing)and curry leaves pour over bbb and serve hot with papadums.

Curd rice

You will need

2 cups cooked rice
2-3 cups thick yogurt

finely chopped cucumber
green grapes halved or pomegranate
finely chopped cilantro
finely chopped ginger
fresh red/green chilli split
salt to taste

Mix all the above ingredients. For tempering in 1/2 tsp oil add mustard, let it splatter add 1 tsp chana daal and 1 tsp urad daal...asafoetida(hing), ginger and split red/green chilli, garnish with cilantro. Served chill with hot bisibele bhat .