Bisi Bele Bhaat (Lentil-Rice Casserole)

I love this rice! The onion-spice blend that goes into it is divine. The combination of sambhar masala and garam masala along with the sweet and sour notes of sugar and tamarind make for an incredibly delicious flavour extravaganza in every bite. Iyer's recipe is written for white rice cooked on the stove, but I've adapted it here for brown rice cooked in the InstantPot. If you're making yours on the stove, you'll need to add considerably more water. And, if using white rice, you'll need to start the peas cooking fist and add the rice to the pot once they're par-cooked.

Bisi bele bhaat served alongside keerai molaghutal.

Bisi Bele Bhaat

Adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. long-grain brown rice
• 1/4 c. skinned split pigeon peas
• 1 3/4 c. water
• 3 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. yellow split peas
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal/skinned split mapte beans)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1 tsp. Punjabi or Maharashtrian garam masala
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 4-6 fresh green Thai chilies, minced
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2-3 Tbsp. ghee, to serve (optional)
• 2 c. unflavoured croutons¹

Directions

1. Rinse rice and pigeon peas.
2. Place rice, pigeon peas, and water in InstantPot and set for 18 minutes at high pressure.
3. Meanwhile, heat ghee over medium-high heat.
4. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until seeds stop popping (30-60 seconds).
5. Add split peas and lentils and stir-fry until golden-brown (~20 seconds).
6. And onion and stir-fry until well-browned (5-6 minutes).
7. Add sugar, salt, sambhar masala, garam masala, tamarind, turmeric, and chilies, stir once or twice and remove from heat.
8. Once InstantPot has finished cook cycle, allow for 10 minutes of natural pressure release before manually releasing the rest of the pressure and fluffing the rice.
9. Stir the onion-spice mixture into the rice.
10. Stir in the cilantro and add the extra ghee (if using).
11. Serve topped with croutons.

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Variations

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 1 c. long-grain brown rice
• 1/4 c. skinned split pigeon peas
• 1 3/4 c. water
• 3 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil or vegetable ghee
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. yellow split peas
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal/skinned split mapte beans)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. beet or unrefined cane sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1 tsp. Punjabi or Maharashtrian garam masala
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 4-6 fresh green Thai chilies, minced
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2-3 Tbsp. vegetable ghee, to serve (optional)
• 2 c. unflavoured croutons¹

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¹ You can make croutons by chopping (preferably stale) bread into 1cm cubes, tossing it with oil, and baking or stir-frying until crisp. You'll need 3-4 slices of bread and ~1/4 c. of oil to make 2 c. of croutons. ^Back