What you need:
Broken wheat - 1 cup
Tuar dal - 1/2 cup
Tamarind - extract from a lemon sized ball
Water - 6 cups (Water +tamarind extract should total six cups)
Salt - to taste
Vegetables - 1 cup (I used potatoes,carrots,beans and green peas)
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Tomato - 1, chopped fine
Oil - 2 tsp
For masala powder:
Chana dal - 2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 4 one inch sticks
Clove - 4 or 5
Cardamom - 4
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Corriander seeds - 1/4 cup
Dry red chillies - 4 or 5(adjust to taste)
Curry leaves - a few
Heat a tsp of oil. Fry the dals first and when they turn reddish brown, add in the other ingredients and fry till aromatic. Cool and then powder.
For tempering:
Oil(gingely) - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Groundnuts - a handful
Heat together until the mustard seeds pop and the groundnuts start to brown.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pressure cooker. Saute the onions till they turn pink. Now add tomatoes and fry till mushy. Stir in the diced vegetables and turmeric powder. Mix well and heat for about 2-3 minutes. Add the broken wheat and mix again. After a minute, stir in the tuar dal,tamarind extract, water,salt, and powdered masala. Cook until two whistles and then reduce the heat to minimum and cook for a further ten minutes. Once the steam has settled down, pour the tempering over the cooked bisi bele and mix well.
The bisi bele will be very watery when you open the cooker, but you will find that it thickens as it cools down.
Serve with raita and papad.
Do take a look at what my fellow marathoners are up to.
This goes to Kalyani who is hosting MMK-One Pot Meals.
