Avalakki Bisibelle Bath

Avalakki Bisibelle Bath or Bisibelle bath made of flattened rice(Avalakki) is one of the best dishes my mom makes & is something which both Appa and me absolutely love.. Bisibelle bath as most of you are aware, is a Karnataka speciality dish which means Hot lentils rice..Bisi stands for Hot, Lentils stands for Belle and rice stands for Bath!

Amma replaces the rice with Poha/Aval/Flattened rice and you can't even make out the difference.. Somebody has to tell you its not rice :) ( Trust me, am not exaggerating!) Plus the toor dal is replaced with Moong dal.. so you have the goodness of the lentils, without feeling heavy :)..The combo of Bisibelle bath & Khus-Khus Payasam is like concrete :D.. you have that & then forget about doing anything else for the rest of the day!! Have you had meals in MTR?? If yes, then you will know what i mean.. its the same feeling :)..the feeling of satisfying heaviness :D ( You feel maybe i shouldn't have binged, coz you feel so full but at the same time would have loved every morsel you had.. so satisfied heaviness is so apt!)

Now, S also has taken a liking for this , in fact i can go ahead & say he prefers this one over rice.. so making the dish true to its name has become a rarity..Maybe i should call it henceforth as as Avalakki Bisi belle or Bisi avalakki belle with no compromise on taste... :)..Okie, without further ado,off to the recipe..

Ingredients

1. Moong dal - 1/2 cup

2. Poha/Aval/Flattened Rice - 2-1/2 cup

3. Onion - 1 cup

4. Carrot/Beans - 1 cup (slit them long, not like usual curries)

5. Capsicum - 1 cubed

6. Tomato - 1 large

7. Curry Leaves - 1-2 sprig

8. Bisi belle bath powder - 5-6tsp

9. Tamarind paste - 2-1/2 tsp

10. Salt - to taste

11. Coconut - 2-3 tbsp (optional)

12. Ghee - 2-3 tsp (optional but recommended)

13. Oil - 2-3tsp

14. Mustard seeds - 2tsp

15. Salt - to taste

16. Water - 5 cups + 2-1/2 cup

Preparation Time!!

1. In a bowl, take moong dal & to this add 1-1/2 cup water, a pinch of turmeric and a drop of oil and pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles. Once done, mash it & keep aside

2.In another bowl, take aval/poha. Wash well and soak it in water. Medium thick variety of poha is ideal and soak for 10-15 minutes or until dal is done

3. As the dal is getting cooked, in another own, take oil and once hot, add mustard seeds. As they crackle, add chopped onions and curry leaves and sauté well, till it tuns light brown.. ( You could add a fistful of peanuts too at this stage.. it tastes great)

4. To this add chopped carrot, beans & capsicum and sauté for a 1-2 minutes

5. Next add tomato and mix well. To this add Bisibelle bath powder and mix well. The powder should coat the veggies well ( So takes around 5-6 tsp..in case you want more, go ahead & add)

6. Then add tamarind paste and add 5 cups of water, 1 tsp of salt and let it boil. Boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes

7. In the pressure cooker, take the mashed dal, to this add the soaked flattened rice and add 2-1/2 cup water and mix well, till flattened rice blends well with the dal.Stir occasionally and it takes around 8-10 minutes and thickens..*

8. The go ahead & add the boiled tamarind mixture with veggies and mix well. Add 2 tsp of ghee, adjust the salt and add freshly grated coconut/ frozen desiccated coconut and mix well and remove off flame

I served this with Tomato-Capsicum Raitha..You could serve with raitha of your choice..Onion/Cucumber/Tomato..tastes good with anything :).. You could sprinkle boondi or mixture on top while serving and add a tsp of ghee..

Might seem a little runny, but it thickens in a few minutes, so you need the mentioned amount of water.. You can't go wrong with this one :)

Pointers

1. Since i use paste, for every 1 tsp of paste, add 2 cups of water..in case, you are using tamarind..then soak lemon size tamarind in 5 cups of water..My 1 cup can hold 236 ml of liquid!

2. In case, you don't want to do the powder, go ahead & pick up MTR bisi belle bath powder.. tastes good :)

3. When you add poha to the moong dal, mix well and ensure you stir occasionally. As the liquid drains, it has a tendency to stick to the base of the cooker.. 
4. You could skip adding coconut too! 
5. If the quantity is high.. you can refrigerate & re-heat..In case, it harden, add a lil water and heat it.. will be just fine!

Sending this to Gayatri's WTML hosted by Jayanthi, Sravs's CC-#10 - mom's recipes & Sara's -Cooking with love- Dad hosted by Nayna