Bisibelehulianna / Bisibelebath / Spicy Rice& lentils with mixed veggies

This is a rice based nutirtious dish which has its origin in the sate of Karnataka (India). The presence of different kinds of spices and veggies along with the lentils and rice gives a nice flavor. This is a kid friendly dish and especially kid who are reluctant to eat veggies, bisibelebath is a good option. Bisi- bele-bath is actually a phrase in Kannada which means "Hot- Lentil-Rice" and bisi- bele-huli-anna means "Hot-lentil-Tamarind-Rice. Now lets get on to how to cook this dish.

Ingredients:
Rice- 1 cup
Toor dal(lentil)- 1/2 cup
mixed veggies - 2 cups (carrots, string beans, peas, potato, chayote squash, drumstick)
Tomato- 1
Tamarind- 1 golf ball size
turmeric- 1/2 tsp
salt to taste

To roast & grind:( bisibelebath powder)
corriander seeds- 3 tsp
cumin- 1 tsp
black peppercorns- 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
red chillies- 6 (adjust to taste)
cinammon- 2 (1inch)
cloves- 4
Marati moggu- 3
chenna dal- 1 tsp
urad dal- 2 tsp
coconut- 1/2 cup (preferably dry)
oil/ ghee(clarified butter)- 1 tsp ( for roasting)

seasoning
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
curry leaves- 1 string
cashews- 10
peanuts- 10 (optional)
urad dal- 1tsp
hing 1/4 tsp
Clarified butter/ Ghee- 3 tbsp

Method:

Boil the rice, vegetables, dal turmeric with 6 cups of water in a pressure cooker.
Soak the tamarind in water to get 1/2 cup extract. Roast and grind the spices. Once the rice with dal is done add the tamarind juice, salt, bisibelebath powder bring it to boil on a medium flame for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water if necessary. Turn off the heat. Heat ghee in a small wok. Add mustard, urad dal, chennadal, jeera, cashews peanuts and fry them to make sure that the nuts are not burnt. When the mustard and jeera crack add hing and curry leaves and season it over the bisibelebath. Piping hot bisibelebath is usually served with raita and papad.

Quick Tomato Briyani

As the name goes, you can get this done real quick. On the days when you have not been home for a few days and you don’t have any specific vegetable available you can opt for this. The Baby Corn Potato Fry that I had posted earlier along with this Tomato Briyani is an awesome combination. Please try it and you’ll like it too. I was in a hurry so once again please excuse me for the picture.

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Capsicum - 1 (sliced into small pieces)
Ginger – 1 inch
Green Chillies - 2
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Gram Masala powder – ½ tsp
Carom seeds - 1/4 tsp
Tomato – 5
Coconut Milk – 1 cup
Salt according to taste
Bay leaf - 1
Mint leaves – a small handful
Cliantro – for garnishing
Oil/Ghee – 2 tbsps

Method:

Cut the tomato into small cubes. Slice the capsicum into half finger length pieces. Silt the green chillies vertically into two. Peel the skin and grind the ginger to a fine paste. In a pan, add the oil/ghee. When the ghee is hot add the carom seeds and bay leaf. Next add the ginger paste, green chillies, capsicum and fry well. After a few minutes add the tomatoes and allow it to cook well for a few minutes. Next add the red chilli powder, gram masala powder, mint leaves and salt. Cook until the tomato becomes soft. Transfer the contents to a rice cooker. Wash the basmathi rice and add it. Next add the coconut milk. Mix salt as per taste. Then add required amount of water. The tomatoes will already have some water so add based on that. For one cup basmathi rice I add two cups water, here we have added one cup coconut milk, the tomatoes will have a little more than quarter cup water, so I generally add another ¾th cup water. Mix well and allow it to cook. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with raita.

Red Basmati Rice Khichdri

A couple of  weeks back my husband got a new variety of rice called red basmati rice from the Indian stores. This rice is a product of Srilanka. But we could also get this kind of rice at Whole Foods market. Red basmati rice is considered as an aromatic rice. Similar to the brown rice this rice takes long time to cook and the rice slightly splits when its cooked.. It takes about 45 minutes to cook 1 cup of rice in a rice cooker. It resembles cooked wild rice and has an aroma  reminiscent of popcorn. This rice is also rich in dietry fibre. We both started liking the rice and started making it for our regular lunch. Last week I tried making Khichri and it came out really well.
Ingredients:

Red Basmati Rice- 1/2 cup
toor dal- 1/4 cup
Mixed vegetables- one cup (carrot, string beans, peas, potatoes, corn)
Tomato (chopped)- 1
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
corriander powder- 1 tsp
cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1- 1/2 tsp (accoding to spice level)
grated ginger 1 tsp
garam masala- 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
coriander leaves (cilantro)- 1 tbsp , chopped (to garnish)

Seasoning
mustard seed- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds(jeera)- 1tsp
curry leaves- 1 string
asafoetida- 2 pinch
ghee- 2 tsp

Method:

• Wash the dal and rice. In a vessel boil 3 cups of water. Add the rice, dal and turmeric powder and cook them on a medium flame. 
• When the rice and dal gets half cooked add the mixed veggies, tomato, corriander powder cumin powder, tomatoes, salt, ginger, chilli powder and aloow it to cook on a medium flame. 
• Stir the khichri in between to make sure that the ingredients at the bottom of the vessel doesn't get burnt. 
• When the rice gets 75% cooked add the garam masala and continue to cook on a medium flame.  Add 1/2 cup of water if necessary.
• When the rice and dal along with the mixed veggies get cooked fully, turn off the heat. 
• In a small wok heat some ghee add mustard, cumin seeds. When the mustard cracks add hing and curry leaves and pour the seasoning on the khichri. Mix well and garnish with coriander leaves(cilantro)
• Serve hot khichri with pickle and yogurt.(curd).

Kidney Beans (Rajma) Pulao

This has been a protein week at home. We didn’t decide that we going on a high protein diet but it turned out so. As a fitting finale I tried the Rajma Pulao. I landed on this recipe in a website when I was looking for a different rice variety. Again the website recipe had onions which I dropped and added a few items to the menu and landed on this one. But please excuse me for the picture coz we were running late to office already, so no time to decorate. The picture has been captured directly from the rice cooker. Hope you enjoy this one.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Kidney beans – 1 cup
Capsicum - 1 (sliced into small pieces)
Ginger – 1 inch
Green Chillies - 2
Cumin powder – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Dry mango powder - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Salt according to taste
Bay leaf - 1
Curd – 2 tbsp
Mint leaves – a small handful
Cliantro – for garnishing
Oil/Ghee – 1 tbsp

Method

Soak the kidney beans overnight and cook them three fourth in a pressure cooker. In a pan, add the oil/ghee. When it is hot add the bay leaf, ginger, green chillies, capsicum and the spices. Cook until soft for about 3- 4 mins. Add the cooked kidney beans and mint leaves. Transfer the contents to a rice cooker. Wash the basmathi rice and add it. Mix salt as per taste. Then add curd and required amount of water. Allow it to cook. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with raita.

Yard Long Beans Lemon Rice

I tasted this recipe in the life member prasadam counter in Mayapur. Actually I am not a big fan of Lemon Rice but this one was out of the world. The lemon rice gets a unique taste because of the yard long beans. So I decided to try this at home and it did come out well. Moreover for office goers this is a real quick dish to prepare.

Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup
Lemon - 1
Yard Long Beans – 10-12
Turmeric powder – 1tsp
Ground Nuts - a few(optional)
Green Chillies - 3.
Curry leaves – a few
Oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad Dhal – 1 tsp
Channa Dhal – 2 tbsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Corriander leaves – a small bunch
Salt – as per taste

Method :
Wash and cook the rice in a pressure cooker.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon and keep it.

Cut the yard long beans into 2cm size pieces.

Heat oil in a pan, add the beans and fry well till the beans becomes tender and soft.

Remove the beans from the oil and keep it separately.

Next in the same pan to the oil, add the mustard seeds and once they burst add the urad dhal and channa dhal. When they become golden brown add the green chillies, curry leaves and ground nuts and fry well.

Next add the fried beans, then add the asafoetida and the turmeric powder.

Next add the cooked rice, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.

We can also add little dry grapes and cashew if need along with the ground nuts and fry them.(This is optional) Garnish with coriander leaves and Serve Hot.

Vegetable Dum Biriyani/ Spicy Vegetable Rice

I saw this recipe on a website and thought the person had made it really well. It looked yummy and tasted the same when made. It is definitely a time consuming process but worth every minute of it. Please try this out sometime. I am sure you will love it

The Rice:

§ 1 and half cup basmati rice

§ 2 green cardamoms

§ 2 black cardamoms

§ 2 cloves

§ 1 cinnamon of 1 inch

§ 1 bay leaf

§ 2 mace strands

§ 3 cups water

§ Salt

The Vegetable Gravy:

§ 1/2 medium sized cauliflower, florets removed

§ 1 medium sized carrot, diced

§ 1 medium sized potato, cubed

§ 1 cup of chopped french beans

§ 1/2 cup frozen/fresh peas

§ 1 green chili, slit

§ 2 tbsp julienned ginger

§ 2 green cardamom

§ 2 black cardamoms

§ 2 cloves

§ 1 cinnamon of 1 inch

§ 1 bay leaf

§ 2 mace strands

§ 1oo gms whisked curd

§ 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

§ 1/2 tsp red chili powder

§ 2 tbsp cashewnuts

§ 1 tbsp raisins

§ 2 tbsp almonds, blanched, peeled and sliced

§ 3 tbsp ghee

§ salt

Herbs and Spices for the assembling:

§ 1/2 cup chopped coriander/cilantro leaves

§ 1/2 cup mint leaves

§ 100 gms whisked curd

§ a few saffron strands

§ 1 tbsp milk

Method :

Cooking the Rice:

§ Pick and clean the rice in running water. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes.

§ Now you can microwave or pressure cook the rice. You have to cook the rice till its 3/4th done. The rice should not be fully cooked but almost cooked.

§ In a pressure cooker or a microwave cooker, add the pre-soaked rice, all the spices mentioned above, salt. Cook till almost done.

For vegetable gravy:§ Heat ghee in the cooker or pan.
§ Add all whole garam masala: cardamoms, mace, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves. Fry the garam masala till they crackle. Add green chillies and Ginger.

 § Add the turmeric and red chili powder. Give the mixture a stir


 § Now add the vegetables and stir for a minute. Add curd, stir, add 3/4 cup water and salt. When the vegetables get cooked, add raisins and nuts.


Assembling the Biryani and slow cooking it on Dum:

§ Warm the milk. Add saffron to it. Let this saffron-milk mixture cool. Add the curd to this mixture and mix well.

§ In the same vessel with the cooked vegetables, sprinkle half each of saffron-flavored curd/yoghurt, mint and coriander leaves. Spread half the rice. Add the saffron curd mixture again, sprinkle rest of mint leaves, coriander leaves and spread remaining rice. Place moist cloth on top, cover the lid and seal the edges using kneaded wheat dough. Place the vessel on a tawa and slow cook for 20-25 minutes. Mix well before serving.


It is a big recipe and i apologize if the fonts and typing is not very good.

 Hope the recipe won't disappoint you.

Chettinad Tomato Rasam

My cousin sister made this rasam when I was there in Pollachi last weekend. I was bowled over by the taste and decided this is the first thing I am going to make for Krishna when I am back in Chennai. I managed to do it. By Krishna’s mercy it did come out well. We can actually kind of have this a different type of soup also. Here you go…

Ingredients
Tomato – 5
Red Chillies – 2-3
Corriander Seeds – 3 tsps
Jeera – 2 tsps
Pepper – ½ tsp
Thoor Dhal – 2 tsps
Curry leaves – a little
Asafoetida – a pinch
Coconut Milk – ½ glass
Oil for Frying
Mustard Seeds – a little
Urad Dhal – a little
Red Chillies – 1(For Frying)
Corriander Leaves – a small bunch

Method:

Add the thoor dhal to a pan and fry till the aroma comes and the dhal turns light golden brown. Allow it to cool.Next add the thoor dhal, red chillies, coriander seeds, jeera and pepper, make a powder and Keep it aside. Next boil the tomatoes and peel the skin and grind them to a puree. Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and wait till they burst and add the urad dhal, red chilly, asafoetida and curry leaves. Next add the tomato puree, powdered mix, salt and add two glasses of water(You can add more water if you feel that consistency is thick) and allow it to boil till the raw smell leaves. Next add the coconut milk and allow it to cook for another 10 mins. Cut the coriander leaves and add it to the rasam. Spicy chettinad tomato rasam is ready.

Vegetable Biryani

Vegetable Biriyani is a spicy rice based food made with different kinds of spices and vegetables. The word biryani is derived from Persian word called beryan which means fried or roasted. Biryani was brought to the Indian sub-continent by the muslim travelers and merchants. There are many versions of making biryani.
I made this vegetable biryani without  onion and garlic.  I got some tips in making this biryani from my aunt Mrs.Parvathy Dharmarajan and my mom Mrs.Geetha Sundaram. This my husband's favourite dish.

Ingredients
Basmati rice 1 1/2 cup
Ghee- 4-5 table tsp
carrot- 1
beans- 7
potato- 1
cabbage- 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
tomato- 4
paneer- 1/2 cup (small cubes)
green peas- 1/2 cup
cauliflower- 10-15 florets
green chillies- 2 ( adjust according to taste)
ginger- 1 inch
mint leaves- 1/2 a bunch
cilantro- 1 cup (finely chopped)
yogurt- 1/2 cup
corriander powder- 1 tsp
red chilli powder- 1 tsp (adjust according to taste)
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
garam masala 1 tsp
shahi jeera- 1/2 tsp
fennel seed - 1/2 tsp
cinamon stick - 1 (1 inch)
cloves- 2
cardamom- 3
hing- a pinch
food colour (orange)- a pinch
cashews- 15
Bread slices- 2

Preparation:
Wash and soak the rice for 20 mins. Cook the rice in a pressure cooker with 1 1/2 cup of water and 1 tsp of ghee.
Transfer the cooked rice in to a wide bowl and work on it slowly so the rice doesnt break. Chop carrot and potatoes length wise and evenly. Grind the tomatoes, cinamon stick, cardamom, cloves, green chillies and ginger in a blender to a paste. Heat 2 tsp of ghee in  a wok. Add shahi jeera, fennel seeds. When it cracks add hing and chopped cabbage and fry them till golden brown. Now add the ground paste along with a cup of water. Add the garam masala, turmeric powder, corriander powder, red chilli powder and allow it to cook for 2 minutes. Add the other veggies and salt and allow it to cook for 5-7 minutes. When the veggies are cooked add yogurt and paneer and finely chopped mint leaves and saute them for 2-3 minutes until the water gets absorbed and becomes a thick vegetable curry. Mix the food colur in a tablespoon of water and add it to the rice and mix gently. Take a large vessel and put half of the rice. Then layer it with the vegetable curry. Add the remaining rice and layer it with the remaining vegetable curry. Close the vessel with a lid and shake it nicely upwads and downwards and sideways so that the contents get mixed well. Open the lid and stir it gently. Make sure the rice doesn't break and the veggies doen't get smashed. Pre-heat the over for 10 minutes and keep the biryani in the oven for 10 minutes. Now heat 1 tsp of ghee and roast the cashews. To make bread croutons , cut the bread in to small cubes.  Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a pan and fry them until golden brown. Remove the biryani from the oven. Garnish the biryani with cilantro leaves, roasted cashews and bread croutons. Spicy vegetable biryani is ready. This can be served with any kind of raita.

Note: Normally basmati rice requires 1: 1 1/2 cup of water for cooking. But for the kind of basmati rice I'm using it requires only 1:1 cup of water.

Tomato Bath/ Tomato Rice

Biriyani is a rice recipe that is cooked on special occasions such as festivals, parties, celebration. This is my mom's recipe and truly delicious and also it makes a wonderful pairing with raita, vegetable semi gravy and papad.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1 Cup

Tomato - 4 medium size ( chopped )

Cabbage - 2 fistful ( finely chopped)

Mint leaves - 1 fistful ( chopped)

Coriander leaves- 1 fistful ( chopped)

Green Chillies - 2 ( slit length wise)

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Ginger - 2 inch piece

Coconut - 2tbs

Cloves-4 ( 2 for the paste and the rest for seasoning)

Cinnamon - 2 sticks ( 1 for the paste and the rest for seasoning)

Cardamom - 1

Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp ( 1/4 tsp for the paste and the rest for seasoning)

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Bay leaf - 1

Salt

Oil

Method

Wash and soak the basmati rice for half an hour. In a blender add ginger, coconut, fennel seeds,cinnamon, clove and make a fine paste. In a hot pan add oil followed by bay leaf, cumin seeds,fennel seeds,cinnamon,cloves,cardamom, green chillies, asafoetida and finely chopped cabbage. Fry them well for 2 mins and add the paste and fry till the raw smell disappears. Add the chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves and give a good mix followed by tomatoes, salt, turmeric and cook on a medium flame till the oil comes out. Drain all the water from the vessel where the rice was soaked and add tomato paste, water, few drops of ghee in the rice cooker. Once the rice is cooked add fried cashews and bread pieces.

Note: Once the rice cooked , you can see the tomato masala layer on the cooked rice so mix gently.

Mixed Vegetable Pulao

Vegetable Pulao is a simple, quick and nutritious rice which I make pretty often at home and goes well with Gobi Manchurian or Raita. Basmati rice gives very nice aroma when it is blended with spices. The original recipe was from my family friend Suresh and I made some modifications. Pulao is usually served as a main course. This recipe is easy to prepare for the unexpected guest at home.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice 3 cups

frozen veggies - 2 cups

Ghee - 2 tbs

Black Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Ginger - 2 tsp grated

Green Chillies - 2 slit length wise

Salt - 2 tsp

Mint Leaves - One Fistful

Coriander leaves - less than one fistful

Pulao Masala - 1 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Coconut milk - 1 1/2 cups

Bread Slices - 2 cut into cubes

Cashews - 10

Pepper Powder - less than 1/4 tsp

Lime Juice - 3 drops

Method:

Wash and soak the basmati rice for 30 mins. Cook the rice in rice cooker with few drops of ghee. Heat a wok and add one tbs of ghee , black Cumin, ginger, green chillies, Veggies, salt ,mint leaves, cilantro/coriander leaves , Pulao masala, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala.Fry them for 2 mins and add the coconut milk. On a medium flame stir well until the coconut milk consistency reduces and becomes condensed ( like a thick gravy mixture). Mix the rice carefully in the masala.Add lime juice and sprinkle the powdered pepper . Optionally add fried bread pieces and cashews.

Note: I used MDH Pulao masala. Once the coconut milk is condensed keep it in a low flam for 3 mins and turn off the flame.

Pudina Pulav/ Mint Rice

Mint is one of the herbs which grows like a weed and is perfectly safe for use. It is excellent in reducing symptoms related to digestion. Pudina pulav is very easy to make and it takes only 20 minutes for preparation. My aunt Parvathy who is in  Rwanda often used to make this recipe along with boondi raita and I love them.

Ingredients:
Mint leaves- 2 small bunch
Basmati rice- 2 cups
coconut milk - 1 cup
water- 1 cup
cinamon stcks -2 (1 inch)
green chillies- 2
ginger- 1 inch
cardamon- 3
cloves- 3
kala jeera- 1/2 tsp
fennel seeds- 1/4 tsp
Bay leaf- 2
salt to taste
hing- a pinch
few cashew nuts
ghee- 2 tsp

Preparation:

Soak the basmati rice for 20 minutes. Wash the mint leaves thoroughly and grind them with ginger, green chillies, clove and cardamom. Heat ghee in a pan. Add kala jeera, fennel seeds, cinamon stick, bay leaf, hing and add the ground paste and fry them for two minutes. Drain the rice and add water, coconut milk and the pudina paste. Add salt and cook the rice in a rice cooker. Once the rice is cooked fry the cashewnuts in ghee and add it to the mint rice. Serve the pudina rice with boondi raita.