BISI BELA HULI ANNA / BISI BELE BHAT (BBB) / SAMBAR SADAM

BISI BELA HULI ANNA / BISI BELE BATH (BBB) / SAMBAR SADAM
One Pot meals are the need of the hour. What we must remember when we make one pot meals is not only the simplicity of the dish but how much nutrition it packs into the meal.
Bisi Bele Huli Anna as it is known in Karnataka or Bisi bele bath/ bhaath as it is known colloquially, is a Rice dish combined with lentils(for protein), vegetables, Tamarind and spices, making it a One pot meal fulfilling the nutritional needs of the body.
This dish is said to have originated in the Mysore Palace and from there spread across the other states. Every state has it's own recipe of BBB.
In Tamilnadu, we call it "Sambar Sadam". The Bisi Bele Bath/Bhaat (BBB) has many variations, Every state, every house has it's own variations to the dish and the masala blend as well. 

I will share with you my version of the recipe. Whenever I cooked this for my guests they relished it. 

My recipe is the marriage of 2 states. 

Nothing can beat the comfort of eating a hot and simmering plate of BBB drizzled with ghee with a batch of pappadams.  Enjoy!!!

Ingredients
Raw Rice – 2 cups
Toor daal – 1 cup
Drumsticks – 1 stick
Onions – 2
Tomatoes - 1
Potatoes – 1 cup diced

Carrots - 1 cup diced

French Beans - 1 cup diced

Green Peas - 1/2 a cup
Raw Banana – 1
Brinjal – 1-2 slit vertical
Tamarind – lemon sized ball soaked in water
Mustard seeds – 1tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Coriander leaves to garnish
Ghee to drizzle on top of the servings
Asafetida – a pinch
Salt as per taste
Oil

For Masala
Freshly grated coconut -3-4tbsps
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Red chillies -3-4
Peppercorns – ½ tsp
Fenugreek – ½ tsp
Onion – ½ an onion chopped / you can alternatively use 2 small onions (shallots/chinna vengayam)

Method
Rinse and soak the Rice for about 5 -7 minutes.
Wash the toor daal and add 1 1/2 cups of water to it. Cook it in a pressure cooker. up to 3 whistles.  Keep aside.

Now Prepare the wet Masala - Roast all the ingredients stated above in the Wet masala and grind into a thick paste using a little water at a time. Keep this masala aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, urad dal and Fenugreek seeds for the tempering. Once the mustard starts to crackle, add in the  curry leaves. 

Now Add the onions and fry till transparent.

Then add the tomatoes, cook until squashy, followed by adding the rest of the vegetables and the wet masala, add in 3-4 tablespoons of concentrated tamarind juice, Asafetida & Salt and Mix all well.

Fry for about 5-7 minutes till you hear a sizzling sound. 

Now add the soaked rice and mix well and sauté for about 5 minutes,  Check for salt and the Tamarind taste at this time, If you feel the need to adjust, kindly do so at this point. 

Pressure cook this until 3 whistles or you can also cook it in the pan, cook covered until the rice and vegetables are done. Add the cooked toor dal, mix well , cook the dish for another 5-7 minutes and then garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with papads, add a dollop of ghee on top while serving. 

VARIATIONS

• You can use Green Peas, Fresh Edmame, Capsicum or any vegetables of your choice. 
• BBB in Karnataka comes with additional spices like Cinammon, clove, nutmeg, poppy seeds etc. 
• You can fry Cashewnuts in ghee and add it to the BBB as a rich and exotic garnish 

TIPS

• If you don't have fresh Vegetables, You can add 1 cup Frozen vegetables too and follow the recipe as abpve  Here we get the combination of  (carrots, beans, & green peas) & Sometimes corn as well. 
• You can add the half cooked toor dal and cook it alongwith the rice, but here the toor dal doesn't get cooked well, hence I add the toor dal after it gets cooked. 

I would like to send this exotic Karnataka delight to Sheetal of Sweety-My Kitchen for the SWC-Karnataka Event that she is hosting in her blog.

VATTA KUZHAMBHU/ VETTRAL KUZHAMBU / STORY OF VATTHA KUZHAMBU

VATTA KUZHAMBU / VETTRAL KUZHAMBU / STORY OF VATTHA KUZHAMBU

Vatta Kozhambu is a spicy tamarind based curry which goes well with steamed rice & pappads.

The Vatta Kozhambu also known as Vatthal or Vettral(Vettal) Kozhambu ( Because of the use of Vattals also known as Vettral/Vettal(dried vegetables)).

It may be also known as Vatha kuzhambu because of the process. As a joke, you can say, “Vatti vatti pohara kuzhambu (means you add the water and let it reduce and keep repeating it till the raw smell of the tamarind goes).

Vatti vatti pohardu (in Tamil means as the water starts to reduce).

No cooked lentils are added to this kuzhambu, so this kuzhambu can be prepared immediately with no much preparation with the ingredients available in your kitchen.

The Vatta Kozhambu is a famous Tanjorian preparation.

The divide between the Tanjorians and the Pattars of Kerala was not more sharply delienated than in the making of the staple sambhar. The tanjorians were fearfully called easterners by the Kerala Iyers - they would not give their daughters in marriage to a Tanjore family for fear of ill treatment of their daughters but welcomed the Tanjore daughter-in-law as she could be depended upon to run the family with smartness and acumen - make the vettal kuzhambu(sambhar without paruppu (dal)) more frequently. The price of dal was prohibitive for an ordinary family making its living by rituals and temple largesse. So a spoonful of dal, the paruppu at the corner of your banana leaf was served, labelled auspicious, and the rice was eaten mixed with the tamarind pulp, spices and rice-powder-thickened kuzhambu.

(Excerpts from my Article : Sambhar- Story of the South Indian Curry. Refer to the Culinary stories section of my blog for the entire article.)

In the olden days Vatta Kozhambu used to be packed and taken while traveling from village to village for trade or business purposes, as this dish doesn’t tend to get spoilt.

I still remember the aroma and taste of the Vatta Kozhambu prepared by my mom, when we used to be travelling to Madras (now Chennai) by the Madras Mail from Mumbai, a journey of 2 days. Amma would carry the Vatta Kozhambu in a bottle and the taste when mixed with rice would be heavenly.

Incase you are putting onions or any other vegetables, you must remember that it wont last as long as the plain vatta kozhambu but still lasts longer than any other curry.

The Vengaya Vatta Kozhambu tastes better when older as the essence of the onions enter the curry completely and enhance the taste. I am sure once you have tried this recipe, your family will be begging for more.

It remains for 2-3 days in the refrigerator if vegetables are added and lasts upto a week if vegetables are not added even without refrigeration.

VATTA KOZHAMBU.

Ingredients

Vattals used:

Sundakkai / Manathakkali or any vegetable Vattal - 1 tbsp of the vattal

Papadams – 2

Vegetables used:

Fresh Brinjals / Lady's fingers / Tomatoes / Small onions (Chinna vengayam) / Onions. -1 cup of chopped vegetables.

Tamarind - a golf size ball soaked in water

Sambhar Powder / Vattha Kuzhambu powder – 1 ½ - 2 tbspn.

Mustard seeds – 1 tspn

Udad Dal - 1 tspn.

Fenugreek seeds – ½ tspn

Dry Red Chillies - 4 de-seeded (if you are adding with the seed just add 1-2)

Asafoetida Powder – 1 tspn

Curry Leaves - One Sprig

Oil - 4-6 tbsps.

Sugar – 1-2 tspns

Salt to taste

Rice flour – 1 tablespoon (for thickness)

Method

Soak the tamarind in water & extract the pulp (juice). Keep this aside.

Heat 4-6 tablespoons of oil in a kadhai. Break the papadams into small quarters and fry them. Keep aside on a plate.

Now Fry the Vattals, You can use one or all of the vattals mentioned above. I have used Sundakkai and Tamara Kazhangu (lotus roots) vattal.

Sundakkai and Manathakkali vattals are very good for health.

You can use any vattal like Pavakkai(Bitter gourd), Vendakkai (Ladies Fingers) vattal, Maa (Salted dried Mango) Vattal  etc.

Keep aside the fried vattals on a plate.

Now in the same oil, Add mustard seeds, udad dal, fenugreek seeds and the dry red chillies. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, Add the curry leaves.

Now add the vegetables you are using and stir fry in the oil.

If you are using only Chinna Vengayam (Small Onions) – Peel and use as whole

Incase of big Onions, peel and chop into small pieces. Incase of onions stir fry until transparent before adding the next ingredient.

When you add onions, it is called "Vengaya Vatta Kozhambu".

Incase, you are using other vegetables, for example Brinjals have to be cut into long thick slits. If you make the Vattha kuzhambu using Brinjal, it is known as Katrikkai Vattha kuzhambu

Ladies fingers are cut into lengthwise finger length strips. If using only ladies finger, it is known as Vendakkai Vathha kuzhambu

If fresh Lotus roots are used cut them into roundels.

If tomatoes are used, you can cut the tomatoes into small cubes.

Once the seasoning is ready, add the vegetables you are using and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.

Now add the sambhar powder and salt and mix well. The sambhar powder should get fried in the oil (not only will this remove the raw powder smell but give a good color and aroma to your vatta kozhambu).

At this stage add your fried papadams and fried vattals that you have kept aside and stir fry with the masala and vegetables.

You can use freshly prepared Vatta Kozhambu masala (as shown below) and add to the vegetables instead of using the Sambhar powder.

Add the Tamarind water (pulp) and mix well.

Add 4-5 glasses of water & allow to simmer nicely.

The longer it is cooked the better it tastes. After 15-20 minutes of boiling. If you see there isn’t much water left, add some more water as much as the quantity required by you. You keep adding water, till the raw smell (pacchai vaadai) of the tamarind disappears.

Once you feel the raw tamarind smell disappears. Add water according to the quantity of kozhambu required by you. Allow it to come to the boiling point.

Now take the Rice flour in a small bowl and mix with water, ensure there are no lumps. Add this solution to the boiling vatta kozhambu and boil for another 5 minutes. This thickens the kozhambu.

Switch off the gas.

Serve the Vatta Kozhambu with Hot Steamed Rice, A teaspoon of melted ghee and roasted or fried pappadams.

Note:

• Vatta Kozhambu will last longer when more oil is added, hence 4-6 tbsps of oil are added.
• Can add Fresh Brinjals / Lady's fingers / Tomatoes/ Lotus roots
• You can avoid Onions completely.
• If you are using only Chinna Vengayam (Small Onions) - Peel and use as whole

            You can use any vattal like Sundakkai and Manathakkali vattals, Tamara

Kazhangu (lotus roots),  Pavakkai(Bitter gourd), Vendakkai (Ladies Fingers), Vattal Maa (Salted dried Mango) Vattal  etc.

• You can add Pappadams - cut them in small quarters & fry them. Keep aside on a plate.

Fresh Vatta Kozhambu Masala

Ingredients

Udad Dal - 2 tspns

Pepper corns - 1 tspn

Fenugreek – ¼ tsp

Coriander – 1 tbsp

Red Chillies - 3- 4

Asafoetida a bit

Oil – A tsp

Method

Fry all the above ingredients in a little oil until golden brown & grind to a smooth paste. Add this paste, After you add the tamarind juice to the vegetables and follow the above method to prepare delicious Vattha Kozhambu.