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Saturday, September 15, 2007

Poha / Avalakki Bisibele Bhath


Bisibelebhath, this one wholesome dish from the sandal wood land, Karnataka needs no introduction. It is a perfect combo of carbohydrates, protiens, vitamins and minerals thrown into one dish. Here is a variation of this dish from the regular version. Bisi (hot)-bele(lentils)-huli(tanginess from the tamarind) -anna (cooked rice) or bisibelebhath (as called in the rest of India) is usually prepared using rice, lentils, vegetables and powdered spices. In this version, rice is replaced by avalakki / poha. Sometimes I even replace the lentils with moongdal. Though moongdal - poha combo tastes great, I prefer toordal to moong variety because of the familiar flavor. Toordal taste seems more right in this dish, as my mom always prepares it with toordal.


Ingredients:
Thick Poha - 1.5 cups
Toordal - 1.5 cups
Chopped vegetables - 2 cups ( Don't chop the veggies too fine. I have used a potato, two carrots, some green beans and peas)
Two Tomatoes (I use them instead of tamarind)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Ghee - 3 Tbsp
Cashews - 1 tbsp
Few curry leaves
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

For bisibelebhath masala : (This ingredients will give you two servings of masala powder. You can use half of it each time. You can also add grated, dry coconut to this list of ingedients).
Chanadal - 3 Tbsp
Uraddal - 1.5 Tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1.5 Tbsp
Red Chillies - 13
Moggu - 2
Cloves - 2
1x1 inch Cinnamon pieces - 4 to 6
Oil - 2 tsp


Preparation:
Wash the toordal with water and drain all the water. Put the toordal, vegetables, whole tomatoes, turmeric powder into a pressure cooker. Add sufficient water and cook till you hear one whistle.
Alternatively, you can cook it in a big pot. See that there is sufficient amount of water till the dal is cooked soft. Keep stirring in between.
Mean while, heat oil in a small pan and add chanandal and uraddal. When they start to turn red, add the remaining ingredients and fry them till the dals turn completely red and coriander seeds turn brown. Switch off the stove and let them cool. Then grind them into a fine powder using a spice grinder or blender. If you think, your blender cannot grind this because of the oil, dry fry the ingredients with out the oil.
Wash the poha twice with plenty of water and drain all the water. Cover the lid and leave it for 10 minutes. It would be ready. If you get real thick poha as in India, you can soak it in water for 10 minutes and then drain the water.
When the valve pressure is gone, remove the lid of the cooker. Mash the tomatoes with the back of the ladle. Add the salt, half of the masala powder and poha. Adjust the quantity of the water as required and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Heat the ghee in a small pan and add mustard seeds, cashews and curry leaves. When cashews turn golden brown and mustard seeds start to pop, turn off the stove and add this to toordal and poha mixture .
Serve hot with a spoon of ghee and papads.

Variation:
Use Moongdal instead of toordal in the above recipe.
Use Cracked wheat instead of rice / poha.

This goes to RCI - Karnataka hosted by Asha of Foodie's hope.

"HAPPY GANESHA CHATURTHI" to everyone.

20 comments:

Sreelu said...

Suma, Looks piping hot and delicious.I should try with moong dal as a variation ,never tried it before

Chef Jeena said...

Yummy this looks fantastic! :)

Pdk said...

the color of the dish is just perfect... Using poha is very new to me.. i shud try it sometime

Dori said...

Very yummy, looks great! I can't wait to try something from your blog :)

FH said...

Beauty!!:)) I have to make it your way ,looks fabulous.Great treat Ganesha and me.Thank you Suma:))

Viji said...

Suma that sounds interesting and great. Viji

Roopa said...

wow another favorites:) you are very right of the lenthils suma i make usually with moong rather than toor :)

Prema Sundar said...

Very innovative Suma.. Adding poha and moong dal to it sounds interesting... happy vinayaka chaturthi

Anonymous said...

Wow Suma a great idea. It is a good change from the usual rice bisi bele bhat. Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi to you.

TBC said...

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to you and yours, Suma.
Poha BBB looks great. I had no idea it could be made using poha.
BTW, what is moggu?

Padma said...

Suma that looks awesome, never had BB with moong...will try next time...

Namratha said...

Hmm very interesting Poha instead of Rice..never heard of that..good one!

Kribha said...

Poha BBB looks fantastic. I wonder how moong dal would taste in this dish? Will try it sometime.

Swaruchy said...

Suma
Ur bisibele bath looks yummmmm :-)
What a colorful spread :-)

Shivapriya said...

UR really good at experimenting with food Suma.. I'm lil scared of trying BBB with poha. I'm sure it tasted yummy.
Happy Vinayaka Chavati

Sharmi said...

delicious looking recipe! wish you the same!

Anonymous said...

Lovely recipe with lots of vegetbales yum! :)

Seema Bhat said...

Suma, Besibelebath our of avalakki.....thats a wonderful idea. Looks deadly. Happu chouthi to you too.

Suma Gandlur said...

TBC,
Moggu is a spice used in BBB. It is some times called Maratha Moggu as well. I haven't seen it in Indian shops here. Though Websites say it is called anise, I am not sure about the name. Star anise and this moggu are different. I will post a picture of it.

Suma Gandlur said...

Sivapriya,
You don't need to be scared to try this poha BBB.:) Replace the rice with poha and you would not even notice the difference.