Bisibela bath / sambar rice

When I first heard of bisibelabath or sambar rice I just thought why take pain making this recipe ??why not just eat rice and sambar mixed????. But later when i tasted it in SV temple in Maryland it's that moment I really decided to try out this recipe. From then on it has been one of our favourite Friday dinner recipes.I think it's an intelligently formulated recipe with has rich supply of carbs,protein,vitamins and minerals. I usually do this using the mtr bisibelabath paste from Indian stores (lazy me.. semi home made :) ) but I managed to get the recipe for masala from my friend.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice uncooked,

3/4 cup toor dhal,

4 cups water,

1 cup vegetables ( bottle guard, carrots,peas,beans ..any thing you can use in sambar except drumsticks),

1 medium onions cut into 1" pieces,

1-2 tomatoes diced,

1/2 tsp turmeric,

salt to taste

for seasoning:

5-10 cashew nuts,

3 red chillies,

1/2 tsp urad dhal,

1/2 tsp mustard seeds,

1/2 tsp cumin seeds,
curry leaves few,

1tbs oil.

for the masala paste:

1tsp bengal gram ,

tbs coriander,

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds,

1/2 tsp cumin seeds,

3 red chillies,

1 tsp black pepper,

1/2 tsp khus khus,

2 tbs coconut grated,

recipe:

• Roast all the ingredients for masala paste one by one and grind to make a fine paste.
• Cook toor dhal and rice in a pressure cooker adding 4 cups of water.
• Cook the vegetables separately.
• Add the cooked vegetables to the cooked rice and dhal.
• Add turmeric powder ,salt and the grind masala paste to it.Add little water at this step if needed.
• Simmer and cook for about 5 mins stirring occasionally.
• In a small pan do the seasoning adding the cashew nuts,urad dhal ,cumin seeds,mustard seeds,red chillies ,curry leaf and hing respectively.
• Add the seasoning to the rice mixture.
• Serve hot with papad or raitha.

Note: you can substitute the grind masala paste with bisibelabath paste ( i use MTR)available in market. you can do the seasoning with ghee or you can add few teaspoons of ghee while cooking to make it more tastier