Instant pot Bisi Bele Bath

Bisi bele bath is a traditional Karnataka recipe made with rice, lentils, veggies, and special spice powder.

I will show you a quick and easy version of the traditional Bisi bele bath. You can also make this recipe more healthy by using whole grains like millets. And of course without compromising on the taste.

Traditionally, bisi bele bath is prepared in two steps. In the first step, rice, lentil, and vegetables are cooked separately till done. In the second step, all these are mixed along with special spice powder and cooked again.

But in our busy day to day life, it may not be possible to make these elaborate dishes. Do not worry and make this one-pot bisi bele bath recipe that is easy yet delicious.

Main ingredients of Bisi Bele bath

• Bisi bele bath masala powder: I have used store-bought masala powder. I sometimes use homemade sambar powder to make this recipe though there will be a slight change in the taste.
• Millet: I find millet as an easy substitute for these kinds of one-pot meals. When compared to rice, there will not much or noticeable difference in the taste of the recipe when we are using millet. So everyone at home can accept and enjoy the meal. Try khichdi, Pongal, lemon rice, curd rice with millets if you want to include millets in your daily life.
• Toor dal: Toor dal is used in authentic bisi bele bath recipe, but you can use a mix of toor dal and moong dal also.
• Peanuts: Peanuts are optional and if skipping them, add an equal amount of toor dal.
• Veggies: You can use any veggies, but vegetables from the gourd family like bottle gourd, ridge gourd taste good in this recipe. Depending on the season radish, kohlrabi also tastes good.

Let us begin making bisi bele bath in the Instant Pot

• Soak millet, toor dal, and peanuts in a bowl for at least 30 minutes.
• Chop the veggies and keep them aside.
• Start an instant pot in sauté mode. Once it is hot, add oil or ghee to the inner pot.

• Now add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chopped ginger, green chili, and curry leaves.

• If you are using onion, add it now and let everything fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the veggies one by one - bottle gourd, carrots, beans, and yellow cucumber. 

• Give a mix and let them fry for a couple of minutes.
• Now add tomatoes, bise bele bath powder, salt, and turmeric powder.

• If you are using tamarind paste, mix it with a half cup of water and keep it aside. If you are using fresh tamarind, extract tamarind juice using half a cup of water. 
• Now add this tamarind water to the veggies mixture.

• Mix it well. You can add more water if it sticks to the bottom. Make sure to deglaze the pan completely, else you may get a Food burn signal.

• Wash and drain the soaked millet and lentil. Add it to the instant pot inner pot and mix it well.

• Now add jaggery and water to the pot.

• Close the instant pot and make sure to seal the vent. 
• Switch off the sauté mode and start manual or pressure cook mode. Cook it on HIGH pressure for 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make a tadka in a small pan using tadka ingredients.

• Once it is done, do a natural pressure release after 10 minutes. Add the tadka to the bisi bele bath and mix it well. If required, add more water to adjust the consistency.

Recipe Notes and variations:

• You can use rice or millets or daliya (wheat rava) to make this bisi bele bath in the instant pot. 
• I usually soak millet and toor dal in the morning if I make this millet bisi bele bath for lunch. You can soak them for up to 6 hours. If you want to soak for more time, do it in the refrigerator.
•  Soaking is optional, but soaking makes millet more digestible. If you face any digestion issues with the consumption of whole grains, then you should soak them.
• These timings will not work for brown rice, and I do not suggest using brown rice here as cooking times for brown rice and veggies is different. By the time brown rice gets cooked, all these veggies will be overcooked.
• If you want to make this bisi bele bath with brown rice without overcooking of veggies, you can cook brown rice separately before. And add it in place of millets or white rice. In that case, you can reduce the cooking time to 6 minutes.
• I usually add bottle gourd and yellow cucumber. You can also add potatoes, pumpkin, squash, radish and avoid veggies that get cooked faster like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage. Here we do not want veggies to get mashed completely.
• This recipe will be mediumly spiced as I make this for the entire family. You can add red chili powder to this recipe to make it spicier and according to your taste.
• If you want to make this recipe using a stovetop pressure cooker, all the steps remain the same, and you should cook for 4 to 5 whistles on medium flame.

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