Bisi Bele Bhath (Rice With Lentils And Vegetables)

          Bisi Bele Bhath is a popular dish from the state of Karnataka in India. Though there are so many other variety of dishes from here, this is the one that pops up immediately, especially for people from the other states. It's a one pot meal, well balanced with carbohydrates, protein and vegetables, a perfect meal and it tastes great too. It gets its flavor from the freshly ground masala, everybody has their own version, this is mine..

Need To Have

• Long Grain Rice - 1 cup
• Tuvar Dal (Red Gram Dal) - 1/2 cup
• Shallots - 1/2 cup sliced
• Capsicum - 1 chopped
• Eggplant - 1 small cubed
• Carrots - 1 sliced
• Fresh Green Peas - 1/2 cup
• Tomato - 1 chopped
• Tamarind - small lime size
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Urad (Split Black Gram) Dal - 1 teaspoon 
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tablespoons
• Broken Cashews - 1 tablespoon
• Asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

For The Paste

• Dried Red Chillies - 8
• Coriander Seeds - 3 tablespoons
• Cinnamon Stick - 1" piece
• Cloves - 4
• Bengal Gram Dal - 3 teaspoons
• White Poppy Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 2 tablespoons
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Method 
          Pressure cook the rice and the dal with turmeric. Roast the ingredients given for the paste in a teaspoon of oil, adding the coconut at the end, remove, cool and grind. Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract the juice and roast the cashews in a little oil, remove and keep. Heat oil, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, once it stops spluttering add the asafoetida and the shallots, saute for 2 mins, add the other vegetables (eggplant, capsicum, carrot and tomatoes). Saute for 5 mins, add the tamarind extract, salt and some water, cover and cook the vegetables. Cook the peas alone (I microwave them to retain the green color). Once the vegetables are done, add the paste, cook  for 5 more mins, then add the rice, dal and the peas. Mix everything, remove, garnish with the chopped coriander and the roasted cashews. Serve it warm with some pappads and raitha.

Sending it to Cuisine Delights for the Spotlight - Lunch Box Ideas event,
                 to Food Corner for the Midweek Fiesta event,
                 to Srav's Cooking Concepts for the CC - Spring Seasonal Food event,
                 to Divya's Culinary Journey for her Showcase - What's In Your Lunch Box? event,
                 to Zesty Palette for Vidhya's Love Lock Series - Legumes event and
                 to Taste Of Pearl City for the Healthy Morsels - Pregnancy event.

Note
Can cook the rice and dal+turmeric separately or together.
The finished dish should be like a thick porridge, it thickens when it cools.
You can add ghee for more flavor and also peanuts instead of cashews.
Use chillies according to your spice level.