Foxtail millet bisibelebath recipe
By Reshma Seetharam
Here is a twist on our classic, yummy bisi bele bath! Swap out rice with whole millets of your choice.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Yield:
6 cups, serves 4
Ingredients:
1 cup organic foxtail millets
1 cup organic toor dal
1 cup vegetables, peas (beans, carrots, colored peppers, all diced the same size)
1 onion chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
2 tsp bisibelebath powder (homemade or store bought like MTR’s)
1 tsp thick tamarind paste
2 tsp brown sugar/ jaggery
1/4 tsp hing (asafetida)
Salt to taste
For the roasted seasoning: A few peanuts, cashew nuts, curry leaves, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and 4 to 6 whole dry red chilies, all roasted in a dollop of ghee.
Directions:
- Soak the dal and millets in lukewarm water, for 30 minutes. Drain, pour it into a cooker and cook it completely in 5 cups of water and a little salt.
- Parallely, boil the peas, beans and carrot with a little salt in a microwave on another stove top pan. Cook them till they are 75% done.
- Don't cook them all the way. In a thick bottom, large pan, add 1 tsp of ghee. On medium heat, when the ghee starts to shimmer, add in raw peanuts and cashew nuts. Roast to a golden brown.
- Add in the red chilies and curry leaves. When they roast to a crunchy texture, strain it out and keep aside. In the same pan, to the remaining ghee, add mustard and cumin seeds, let it splatter on medium heat.
- Add in onions and roast to a light brown. Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook until it is soft and pulpy. Add in the BBB powder, hing, salt and brown sugar. Cook on low heat for 2 minutes.
- Add the tamarind paste and a cup of water. Bring it to a simmer on medium heat. When the ghee begins to leave the sides of the pan, the masala is ready.
- Add the cooked dal millets, and vegetables to this masala and stir it very gently. Blend all of it until you see a uniform colored porridge. Let it simmer on low heat. Check for salt, sugar, spice, tanginess. Add in a cup of hot water, if it is too thick.
- To finish it all, smear a top coat of 1 tsp ghee. Just before the dish is served, garnish it with the roasted peanuts mixture. It goes great with chips or an onion yogurt salad. Enjoy!