When flavor meets nutrition in its finest form, it becomes the unique dish, Bisibelebath. Bisibelebath is a spicy rice dish flavored with many spices & lentils (Dal). This popular aromatic gluten free dish, though originated in Mysore of Karnataka, is popular in whole south India.

Etymology:

 The Kannada word “Bisibelebath” means “Hot Lentil Rice dish”- the word “Bisi” means “Hot”, Bele means Lentil (Toor dal) and Bath means Rice cooked in water.  

History:

 Rice is the staple food of South India, even kings eat rice for their daily meal. However, the Royal family often tasted flavored rice dishes which included Puliodarai, Daddojanam, Paramannam, Bisibelebath etc. Bisibelebath dish was initially prepared with just rice, dal, Cinnamon, cloves, ghee but without any vegetables in it to go with many other vegetarian side dishes for the Royal family of Mysore. The later versions of Bisibelebath were made colorful & nutritious by the famous Udipi people who added a lot of vegetables to it. 

Nutrition values: 

1 cup of authentic Bisi Bele Bath has 343 calories, carbohydrates: 67gms, fat: 5gms and protein: 8gms. This flavored rice dish is rich in Iron and low in carbohydrates which makes it a Low Glycemic index food.

Recipe: 

This slow cooked delicious rice dish is made for any part of the day. This Karnataka based dish is prepared in various versions in almost all parts of South India. However the magic of the recipe lies in the spice powder that is added in the dish. 

Ingredients:

Rice 1 cup, Lentil (toor dal) -½ cup, tamarind – 50 gms, jaggery – 10 gms, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, Urad dal, Chana dal, dry coconut, mogga, cloves, cinnamon, salt , mustard seeds, curry leaves – 1 tablespoon, 6 dry red chilies, cashews – 10, ghee – 3 tablespoons. Vegetables- Carrots, capsicum, beans, shallots and peas.
Step 1: Take 1 cup rice & ½ cup lentils (Toor dal) and soak them for half an hour. Step 2: Pour double the amount of water & boil them in a cooker for 5 whistles. Step 3:  Fry all the dry spices Chana dal, Urad dal, Red chilies, Coriander seeds, Cinnamon, Cloves, Marathi mogga, Methi seeds, Cumin seeds and Dry coconut. Step 4: Cool down all the spices and make them into fine powder. Step 5: Soak Tamarind in hot water for ½ hour and extract juice. Step 6: Take jaggery and slat in the tamarind juice bowl and add spice powder to it. Step 7: Cut all the vegetables like carrots, shallots, beans, capsicum and peas. Step 8: Pour water to cook vegetables in the pan, and add the spice powder to it. Step 9: Add Rice & dal to the vegetables mix and simmer the mixture. Step 10: Add tampering (tadka) to the mix with Cashews, dry chili, mustard seeds, and curry leaves in ghee.  Step 11: Serve the hot dish with boondi. 
This slow cooked recipe is favorite of almost every south Indian family because of its flavors & nutritional values. This protein loaded recipe is healthy and is suitable for all the ages including diet conscious people.