Bisi Bele Bath Masala Powder

I promised myself that I'd blog at least once a week in 2011, actually that was a New Year resolution. Hmm like all resolutions, that too went out the window right at the start of the year!!!  Oh, I have reasons a-plenty  - in Jan I wasn't in the pink of health, in Feb / Mar I was traveling lots & in April - I wanted to blog, but there were some problems with my account and I wasn't able to.  Nice enough reasons, aren't they? That brings me to something else - for a while now I've been trying to scale up this page & haven't been very successful. So, after much goading from one of my favorite blogger friends, I've decided to shift to the another domain. Yes, I'll certianly give you all the details once I make the transition. 

Now, what was this post about? Oh, yes, Bisibele Bath! A nice one pot meal which is sumptuous by itself. Of course there's always someone like me for whom no meal is complete without thayir-chadham (curd-rice or yoghurt with plain rice) and pickle!!! This post however doesn't detail how to make Bisibele bath, but rather how to prepare the masala powder for it. 

My recipe is from various sources - friends, neighbors & family and with a few tweaks from me. My husband, who's never been a fan of this dish, now absolutely loves it - provided I make it with this masala powder & not something store-bought. I usually make the powder in this proportion & store it in an airtight container. I've been meaning to post this recipe here for a while now, and I just never got around to it. Why, you ask? Pls look above!!! I misplaced this little bit of paper on which I'd scribbled this recipe & though I searched high & low I couldn't find it! So, I made a small batch of powder one day, and made the dish & hubby says "Have you used some store-bought masala, this doesn't taste like it usually does!!". That day I decided that when I find that elusive paper, I'd post it immediately!!! So, here it is!!! I've been rambling on rather a bit, haven't I? Okie.. on to the recipe then!

When I say "cup" in this recipe I don't mean that you should use a measuring cup & measure out exactly. Use any cup, katori, tumbler, measure, just keep in mind the proportions and remember to use the same container to measure all the ingredients. 

Ingredients

Bengal gram (channa dal) - 1/2 cup

Urad dal - 1/4 cup

Coriander seeds - 1/3 cup

Cumin - 1/3 cup

Cloves - 1 tbsp

Cardamom (bada elaichi) - 3 pieces

Cinnamon - 1-2 inch piece

Star anise - 2
Mace - 2
Marati-moggu -  2 tbsp
Red chili (Badige) - 3/4 cup
Red chili (Salem) - 1/2 cup
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1 tbsp

Preparation

Roast channa dal to golden-brown in a non-stick kadai, transfer to a wide plate

Roast urad dal till is turns brown, transfer to plate holding channa dal

Roast badige chilies, and then the salem chilies separately
Transfer to individual plates
Roast hing (asafoetida) till it puffs up
Roast jaggery to remove any moisture
Place coriander seeds in a microwave-safe bowl
Cook for a min, 30 secs at a time
Remove from microwave & transfer to a new plate
Repeat the previous 3 steps for the cumin seeds
Place all the other spices except red chilies and asafoetida in the same bowl
Cook for a min in the microwave, 30 secs at a time
Remove & transfer to a different plate
Allow all the ingredients to cool
Grind in a mixer to a fine powder

You might wonder why I've used two types of chilies in the recipe. The badige chili gives a very nice color & fragrance but is not very spicy, so to increase the spice level of the powder, I've added the salem chilies. Now, if you'd like your powder more or less spicy, then tweak the salem chilies to suit your requirement. Usually there is a good quantity of dry coconut added to this recipe. I've never liked bisi-bele bath with coconut. Ours is a less-to-no-coconut kind of household. So, that might be it. If you'd like to have your powder with dry coconut, add 1/2 cup to the ingredients, roast this individually & grind along with other ingredients.