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BisiBelaBath/sambar sadam

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Bisibelabath is a very popular dish in Karnataka. The name Bisi bele bhaath is a phrase, which literally means “Hot Lentil Rice”, as in Kannada, Bisi means hot, bele means Lentils and bhaath means a dish made of rice (Def-wiki. Since it is cooked with lentils, vegetables and rice and it can be called a one pot meal. Many think it is a very elaborate process but actually it is very simple to make. I learnt this from my Kannada neighbour long time back. We used to go for walk together and the only thing that was common between both of us was cooking. So our conversation was usually about food and recipes. Once I asked her about this bisibela bath and she told me how to prepare it. The very next day I prepared it and liked it so much that I used to make this often. I am a great fan of this rice dish. It tastes great when served hot with papads and onion raita. This is her recipe and the only change I made was, to omit adding a little jaggery at the end. Bisi bele bath masala is available in grocery stores also. So if you do not have much time on hand, you can use the masala available, as that is also equally good. Today let us learn how to make bisi bela bath following this easy recipe.

 

Bisibelabath-Karnataka style
Bisibelabath-Gobi 65-Cucumber pachadi-curd rice-potato chips

Watch the video of making Bisibelebath

BisiBelaBath Recipe
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients needed

Raw Rice – 1 cup
Tur dal – 1/2 cup
Tamarind – small lemon sized ball
Oil -1 tbsp
Ghee – 5 tsp

Vegetables 

Pearl onions -15
Beans – 4-5
Carrot – 2
Potato – 1
Peas – fistful
Tomato – 1
Capsicum – 1

Bisi Bela Bath Masala (fry and dry grind)

Oil – 1 tsp
Kopra/Dry coconut powder -1/2 cup
Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
Red chillies – 6-7
Bengal gram/Channa Dal – 2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Fenugreek – 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
Cloves – 2
Cardamom -1
Khus khus -1 tsp

For the Seasoning

Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (vendhayam)– 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves – little
Asafoetida/hing – 1/4 tsp

ingredients for making bisi bela bath

Preparation

Dry roast khus khus separately, keep it aside.

Heat a tsp of oil, roast the ingredients under Bisi Bela Bath Masala (except khus khus), adding dry coconut at the end. Roast everything until it becomes slightly brown in colour and dry grind it along with dry roasted khus khus. You can prepare this a few days before if you are using kopra as it will not get spoiled. Store it in an airtight container.

bisibelabath masala powder

Pressure cook rice with 4 ½ cups of water for 4 whistles.

Pressure cook dal with a cup of water and keep aside. Mash it well. I usually soak dal for 15 -20 minutes in hot water to reduce cooking time.

Cut pearl onions into 2-3 pieces. Cut beans and carrot lengthwise or into cubes. Peel and chop potatoes into cubes. Cut capsicum into small pieces.

Soak tamarind in a cup of hot water for 15 minutes. Extract its juice and discard the pulp.

Method

Heat a tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add fenugreek seeds, hing and curry leaves. Saute for a second and add chopped onions.

sauteing onions

Sauté onions until it becomes transparent. Then add all the vegetables (except capsicum) and sauté for a few more seconds. Sprinkle water and cook covered for 4-5 minutes.

how to make bisibelabath

Now add tamarind extract, needed salt and the prepared bisibelabath masala powder. Let it boil well until the raw flavour goes. By the time the vegetables will also get cooked well.

how to prepare bisibelabath

Add cooked dal, cooked rice, 4-5 tsp of ghee and mix well. Cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes and switch off the heat.

bisibelabath recipe

Heat a tsp of ghee and sauté capsicum until slightly cooked. It should be crunchy.

Karnataka style Bisi Bela Bath recipe

Garnish Bisibelabath with sauteed capsicum, finely chopped coriander leaves, mix well and serve hot with chips or papads or onion raita or gobi 65.

Easy Bisi bela bath recipe

Karnataka style Bisi bela bath with onion raita and appalam

how to make Bisibelabath Bisibelabath with onion raita and appalam

Note – As it cools, the bisibelabath will become a little thick. You can add little hot water, a little ghee and re-heat it before serving.

You can cook rice and dal together but certain variety of dal does not get cooked to a mush, so I always cook dal and rice separately.

Recipe Card for BisiBeleBath

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bisibelebath
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Bisibelebath-Karnataka Style Bisibelebath
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 

Bisi bele bhath is a rice and lentil based dish from Karnataka. It is a healthy wholesome dish prepared with rice, lentils or dal, vegetables, and spices/bisibelebath powder . It tastes great when served with potato chips, papad or boondi.

Course: Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: Karnataka
Keyword: Bisibelebath, Bisibelebath with homemade bisibelebath masala
Ingredients
Ingredients needed
  • 1 cup Raw Rice
  • 1/2 cup Tur Dal
  • Tamarind small lemon sized ball
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 5 tsp Ghee
Vegetables
  • 15 Pearl onions
  • 5 Beans
  • 2 Carrot
  • 1 Potato
  • Peas (fistful)
  • 1 Tomato
  • 1 Capsicum
Bisi Bela Bath Masala Powder (fry and dry grind)
  • 1 tsp Oil
  • 1/2 cup Kopra/Dry coconut powder
  • 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
  • 6-7 Red chillies
  • 2 tsp Bengal gram/Channa Dal
  • 1 tsp Urad dal
  • 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
  • 1 inch Cinnamon piece
  • 2 Cloves
  • 1 Cardamom
  • 1 tsp Khus khus
For the Seasoning
  • 1 tsp Mustard seeds
  • 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves
  • 1/4 tsp Asafoetida/hing
Instructions
Preparation

  1. Heat a tsp of oil, roast the ingredients under Bisi Bela Bath Masala, adding coconut at the end.

  2. Roast everything until it becomes slightly brown in colour and dry grind it. You can prepare this a few days before if you are using kopra as it will not get spoiled. Store it in an airtight container.

  3. Pressure cook rice with 4 ½ cups of water for 4 whistles.

  4. Pressure cook dal with a cup of water and keep aside. Mash it well. I usually soak dal for 15 -20 minutes in hot water as it takes less time for cooking.

  5. Cut pearl onions into 2-3 pieces. Cut beans and carrot lengthwise or into cubes. Peel and chop potatoes into cubes. Cut capsicum into small pieces.

  6. Soak tamarind in a cup of hot water for 15 minutes. Extract its juice and discard the pulp.

Method

  1. Heat a tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add fenugreek seeds, hing and curry leaves. Saute for a seconds and add chopped onions.

  2. Sauté onions until it becomes transparent. Then add all the vegetables (except capsicum) and sauté for a few more seconds. Sprinkle water and cook for 4-5 minutes.

  3. Now add tamarind extract, needed salt and the bisi bela bath masala powder. Let it boil well until the raw flavour goes. By the time the vegetables will also get cooked well.

  4. Add cooked dal, cooked rice, 4-5 tsp of ghee and mix well.

  5. Heat a tsp of ghee and sauté capsicum until slightly cooked. It should be crunchy.

  6. Garnish Bisibelabath with capsicums, coriander leaves and serve hot with chips or papads or onion raita or karaboondi or even gobi 65.

Recipe Notes

As it cools, the bisibelabath will become a little thick. You can add little hot water, a little ghee and re-heat it before serving.

You can cook rice and dal together but certain variety of dal does not get cooked to a mush, so I always cook dal and rice separately.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  28. vineetha

    Thanks a loott for visiting my blog.I went through ur blog…grt blog.
    Can I request u something? Saw ur sambhar recipe and in the click saw keerai kootu..It looks delicious…When u make it next can u pls share the recipe here..will be following u 🙂

    Reply

  39. Pavani

    That is a filling meal right there.. I love the way you arranged everything on the plate. You have a wonderful blog with lots of yummy dishes. Will come back for more. Thanks for dropping by my blog, keep visiting 🙂

    Reply

  45. usha anandvenkatesh

    Padhu,I have tried making bisibelabath many times earlier and it never turned out well not even once and by the time I served this it used become hard and the looseness would disappear. Honestly, this time it came out perfect and by husband enjoyed eating it. Thanks a lot. I am really happy about this.

    Reply

  51. Amy A

    Hi Padma.. You're blog is a saviour for people like me who are no good at cooking on their own. My big nightmare is that one day I'll wake up and find your blog gone. I never thought I could cook "advanced" dishes like this one.. but I tried it and was amazed at how well it came out.. Thanks a bunch.. I've decided to make one dish from your blog everyday.. 🙂

    Reply

  52. Rashi Bhushan

    Thanks for the wonderful recipe Padhu! We made it today and it turned out awesome. We really liked the masala powder recipe you have provided here, made the dish so good. Keep sharing more such recipes.

    Reply

  53. Nandhini Pichandi

    Padhu, this recipe is awesome n came up really well today…thank you so much for such a nice post n these are exact measurements..kudoos… i appreciate ur hardwork n passion on cooking.. keep rocking..

    Reply

  55. AV3NG3R

    Hi,

    I find your recipes very useful and easy to use. I have a question with your bisibelabath recipe. You said pressure cook rice with 4.5 cups of water. Are you sure about the quantity? Also, can we cook toor dal and rice together or is there a reason they should be done seperaterly?

    Thanks in advance.

    Reply

  56. Padhu Sankar

    AV3NG3R- Thanks a lot for liking my recipes.The measurement I have given is correct. I have used old rice so it needs that much water .Also bisi bela bath should be mushy. You can cook rice and dal together but at times certain variety of dal does not get cooked properly.So to avoid that I cooked it separately. Hope it is clear now.Thank you.

    Reply

    • Padhu Sankar

      In the second step under method – I have written "Sauté onions until it becomes transparent. Then add all the vegetables" which includes tomato also. Add tomatoes along with the other vegetables.

      Reply

  64. P76

    Hi, padhu. Nice recipe. Tried it last nigt. Turned out very well but too spicy. Probably 4 chillies would have been enough….will try again sometime soon

    Reply

  66. Gayatri

    Hi Madam, thank u for sharing so many wonderful recipes with us. I'm planning to make this bisi bela bath On Sunday……I want to know how much tamarind extract should I use? 1 cup or 2 cup? What is the cup measurement?

    Reply

  85. sowmya

    Hi Padhu, I’ve to say that I’ve learnt and enjoyed a lot of recipes over the last few years, thanks to your simple way of explanation and presentation! Keep it going!

    Best Wishes,
    Sowmya

    Reply

  86. Abirami Upendra

    Dear Padhu, I am a long time fan of your blog. Tried so many recipes and each and every one was a success. Whenever I make a dish and my family appreciate me, I always say that they should thank you for that. Today I made this bisi bela bath and it too came very well. I want to register my special thanks to you today because in these testing times, food is the only thing that cheers us up. And the appreciation we (ladies) get boosts our spirit. Kudos to you Padhu. Love you loads

    Reply

  88. Aarthi

    Hi Padhu, I am a regular follower of your blog. As you say, your recipes are 100% fool proof. Though there may be thousands of cookery channels, I follow only yours. I have a doubt regarding this recipe,, in case I use store bought masala powder , how many spoons should I use for 1 cup or rice ? Can you please clarify?

    Reply

  89. Anusha

    Hi Padhu, I wish to try this recipe. Is it okay to replace the small onions with big onions since we don’t get small onions here. Thanks !

    Reply

  90. Vina

    Thanks Padhu, I made bisibele bath and cucumber raitha. The instructions were so clear and helpful that I was able to make it and our family enjoyed todays lunch. Love your recipes!!

    Reply

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