BisiBele Bath (Sambar Rice)

When Little A started school, I was hoping that her exposure to lunch boxes from other homes will open up opportunities for expanding her food chain. When her teacher proudly told me that they dont allow kids to share snacks / lunches I was disappointed. (apparently it was for hygiene and allergy reasons). I wish she had  seen "lunch-times" at my school. 

 I guess most of us would remember those times when we would wait to see what others have brought for lunch. We did not have air-conditioned lunch halls. Instead we had an open field where groups of us would have invisible territories where we gather around to open those stainless steel / Milton hot boxes. Lunch would always be a shared affair wherein you get to taste stuff that arent usually made at home or made differently in other homes. Bittergourd chips from L's home, Potato roast from B's lunch box, Peanut kuzhambu from P's mom, Chocolate cake from D and a range for other cuisines opened the doors for future foodies.  

I believe the experience made us appreciate cuisines, respect food cultures and also be tolerant to food preferences. Sadly Little A would get to experience this only on playdates and parties. 

I still recreate some of my friend's lunch box dishes at home for that touch of nostalgia. I was hunting for the recipe for Bisi Bele Bath which my friend G's mom had made for a pot-luck lunch almost 12 years ago. I landed on the recipe from Food Connoisseur authored by R another friend of mine - who had fallen for the same delectable dish. I have adapted the recipe with minor changes to suit our taste.

Bisi Bele Bath is a medley of rice, dal and vegetables along with spices. The dish has its origins in Karnataka and like any other popular dish has its own local twists.

Ingredients:

Rice – 1 cup  ( I use Thai Jasmine rice for flavor. But ponni rice is also fine).
Tuar Dal – 3/4 cup

Peanuts - 1TSambar Onion or Shallots - 15 - 20, Peel and slice (refer notes)
Tomato - 1
Mixed Vegetables - 1 cup (I have used 1 carrot, 1 potato, 3-4 green beans, 1/4 cup green peas) Refer notes
Sambar Powder - 2T
Tamarind - lemon sized - soak and extract pulp
Salt to taste
Turmeric – 1 pinch

Ghee – 2T
Curry Leaves - 1 Sprig

For the masala

Corriander seed -6T
Dried Red chilly - 15-20
Channa Dal - 2T
Asafoetida - 1 pinch (around 1/4t)
Fenugreek - 1t
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cloves - 2
Black Peppercorns - 1t
Garlic - 2

Marathi Moggu - 1
Grated coconut - 3T (refer notes)

Ghee - 1t

Method

1. Wash and soak the rice and dal together along with the peanuts.

2. Pressure cook the rice, dal and peanuts in 6 cups of water along with a pinch of turmeric.

3. When the rice-dal is cooking, prepare the masala. 

4. Heat 1 teaspoon of ghee in a kadai and add all the masala ingredients one by one except coconut. When the spices have browned add the grated coconut and fry till it is brown. Cool and grind to a coarse powder. 

5. Heat ghee in a large pressure pan / kadai. Add the curry leaves and onions and fry well.

6. Add the mixed vegetables and fry well.

7. Add the tomatoes and turmeric and mix well.

8. Add sambar powder and tamarind pulp along with a cup of water and bring to a boil.

9. Take two tablespoons of the ground masala and mix with water to make a paste.

10. Add the paste to the vegetables and bring to a boil. Simmer and allow the vegetable to be cooked till soft(you can pressure cook for 1 whistle at this stage). 

11. Mash the rice-dal and add it to the boiling vegetables. Add salt and mix well. 

12. Taste and adjust spice and salt. If less spicy add some more masala paste and mix well. Add a cup of water if it is too thick bring to a boil and mix well.

13. Switch off the stove and add a dollop of ghee on top. (highly recommended)

14. Serve hot with appalam and pickle.

Notes:

• The masala powder can be made in bulk and stored in the fridge. But the flavor will not be the same when it is 2-3 weeks old. I normally make it fresh when I have guests and use the leftover powder for a quick weekday lunch.

• You can use a wide range of vegetables like Raw banana, drumstick (recommended), radish, avarakkai etc. Don't overload the vegetables. It should be more of rice-dal with a sprinkling of vegetables in every bite. 

• Small Onions / Pearl Onions / Shallots gives the dish a wonderful flavor. If you do not get them, then substitute with 1 big onion. Some people add them whole but I dont like finding them in my food. So I have sliced them.

• Traditionally Kopparai (Dry coconut) is used for Bisi Bele Bath. If you have them, then do use it instead of grated coconut as it takes the dish to another level. 

• BisiBele Bath should be gooey. It should not be dry. If you find it dry, then adjust water at step 12. 

• You can also garnish with cashew nuts roasted in ghee.

• Do not skimp on the ghee as BisiBele bath is not for the calorie conscious. Even without the ghee its not going to be low calorie. So go ahead and indulge :-)

• It usually is a dark brown color but the shades may differ depending on the quality of tamarind used.
• Always serve it hot with a dollop of ghee.

Healthy Brown Capsicum Rice

On hot summer days (which is infact everyday in Penang!) I normally prefer making one-pot lunches. Meals that are simple to make, wholesome in combining grains / lentils /veggies and involves just one pot to wash up. One such easy meal is the Simple Capsicum rice. You can make the spice powder in advance and store it (I normally make these spice powders in bulk and store them in my refrigerator) and voila - the entire meal would take just under 30 minutes to prepare.

This recipe is adapted from Sailus Food - a delectable blog with a variety of recipes.  I have made this with brown rice to give a nutritious twist. Brown Rice is one of my new finds and it took a while for me to get the grips on the water ratio and cooking times. It is a bit on the chewy side and I doubt if small kids would like the texture but it suits well for the Indian mixed rice dishes. If you are health conscious - then do give it a try. It is filling and is much more nutritious than polished rice as the outer husk is still on and therefore adds a lot of fibre to your meals. For more details on the nutrition value of brown rice check out these pages. If you do not have brown rice - simply substitute with regular white rice or basmati.

Capsicum Rice

Ingredients:

Brown Rice - 1 cup (washed and cooked with 3 cups of water on stove top / pressure cooked as per instructions on packet)

Capsicum - 1 - sliced or chopped

Onion - 1 sliced 

Roasted Peanuts - 1 T

Salt to taste

Spice Powder:

Red Chilly - 5-6

Dhania (Coriander seeds) - 1T

Cumin Seeds - 1t

Broken Urad dal - 1T

Cinnamon - 1 inch stick

Curry leaves - 1 handful

Roasted Peanuts - 2T

Ghee - 1/2t

To Season

Mustard Seeds - 1t

Curry Leaves - a handful

Ghee / Oil - 1 t

Method:

1. Spice Powder - Heat ghee in a pan and roast cumin seeds, urad dal, red chillies, dhania, cinnamon and curry leaves together. Once they turn golden, add the roasted peanuts and mix well. Grind to a coarse powder.

2. Heat ghee / oil in a big pan. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves.

3. Add the sliced onions and fry till they turn pink

4. Add the capsicum and fry until they are  cooked but are still crunchy. 

5. Add salt and mix well. If you taste it at this stage, the capsicum should be a bit salty.

6. Add the rice, spice powder and mix well. Taste and adjust salt. 

7. Garnish with roasted peanuts and serve with raitha.

Notes:

•  If you are not sure about the salt quantity, then add the salt while cooking the rice and omit while frying the vegetables.
• Store excess spice powder in a tightly lidded jar in the fridge. Use within a month.
• If you are making this for kids - then use basmati rice and increase the quantity of ghee for added flavor

Vegetable Fried Rice

Chinese Cuisine has been a favorite at our home from my childhood and luckily PK shares the same passion for oriental food.  From my toddler days "fried rice and chicken manchurian" has been a regular food especially at restaurants such as China House and Chung King (I believe the latter exists even today ).

This recipe for Veg Fried Rice is purely from memory picked up from the days when my amma used to make this as a special treat on days such as the first day of my summer holidays or on birthdays. I still remember the elaborate preparations taken by finely chopping vegetables and boiling the rice to the right level in a huge vessel. It is much simpler today and can be made in a jiffy with my Braun chopper and the rice cooker.

Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups of Basmati Rice
1 cup  finely chopped carrot
1 cup  shredded cabbage
1 cup diced capsicum
2 tbsp sweet corn kernels - boiled (optional)
6-7 spring onions chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
3-4 red chillies
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp sesame oil / vegetable oil
2 tsp soya sauce
1 tbsp green chilly sauce
1 tsp vinegar
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Method:
1. Wash and parboil the rice until it is just short of well done. I use the rice cooker with the ratio of 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. Add some salt and a dash of lime juice and few drops of oil. The rice has to be cooked but should remain as separate grains. If you are not sure of the rice cooker technique, just boil the rice in lots of water with salt and lemon juice. Test the rice after 5 minutes. It should be cooked "al dente" i,e in a biteable consistency. Once done, spread on a plate and allow it to cool.

2.In a deep pan, heat up two tbsp oil (I use sesame oil as it gives a lovely oriental fragrance to the food. You can use any other cooking oil). 3. Add the shredded red chillies, garlic and ginger and fry for a minute. 4. Now add the white parts of the spring onion and fry a little. 5. Add the chopped veggies one after another and cook until it is half done. 6. Add the salt (remember that the rice has also been cooked with salt. so adjust accordingly), pepper, vinegar, soya sauce and chilly sauce and saute well for a minute. 7. Slowly add the rice coating it well until all the rice and vegetables are combined. 8. Garnish with the remaining spring onion.

Serve hot with Chilly Baby Corn.