Easy Bisi Bele Bath / Sambar Sadam Recipe
Though I have always loved vatha kozhambu and theeyals better than sambar, ever since I started cooking on my own, I love sambar! However, making sambar on a weeknight means also making a thoran or poriyal to go with it. Sambar sadam or Bise Bele Bath is the quick answer for that. Add in all the vegetables you have in hand and there you go - a nutritious one-dish meal in no time that's very forgiving when it comes to what vegetables you add to it.
Although I realise the actual version requires coconut and freshly ground and powdered spices, etc, that's not a very weeknight-friendly recipe. I have tried that a couple of times but the sheer time it takes to peel the shallots itself is a turn-off.
Anyway, here's how I make mine, the easy, quick version.
Bisi Bele Bath / Sambar Sadam Recipe
Serves 2-3
Preparation time - 15 mins
Special utensil needed - pressure cooker
What I Use:
Rice - 1.5 cups
I use ponni or basmati but the regular rice you use every day will work just fine.
Toor / tuvar / kandi pappu / pigeon peas - 3/4 to 1 cup
Tamarind - a marble-sized ball or 2 tbsp tamarind paste
Chopped vegetables - 1.5 cups
You can use any vegetables you have in hand like French beans, carrots, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, drumstick, capsicum, etc.
Shallots - 6 (optional)
Green chillies - 2
Sambar powder - 1.5 to 2 tbsp
Hing / Asafoetida / Perungayam - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
For tempering:
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Shallots - 2, sliced thin (optional)
How I Make It:
1. Add 1 cup warm water to the tamarind and extract juice. Discard pulp. If using tamarind paste, dissolve it in 1 cup water without any lumps.
2. Heat oil for tempering in the pressure cooker pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Fry the shallots for tempering, if using, until golden brown. Then add the hing, green chillies, turmeric and sambar powder and mix well for 10 seconds.
3. Add all the ingredients and sufficient water. To cook the rice I use every day, the ratio of rice:water is 1:2. Since I have used 1.5 cups rice here, I need 3 cups water in total. Tamarind juice is in 1 cup water so I added approximately 2 more cups of water to the cooker. Its fine if its slightly more than that.
4. Cook for 3 whistles. If you like your sambar sadam a bit mushy, then cook for 4 whistles and make sure you add slightly more water than specified above.
5. Wait till pressure leaves and serve hot with vadaam / chips / appalam and raita / curd.
Posts
a classic recipe...love the second pic :)).
ReplyDeleteSiri
By the way, I was wondering what could be the 'exciting news' you mentioned about ;)
ReplyDeleteHehe.. Siri, you are giving people wrong ideas here :D I was talking about a Sri Lankan dish I made yest for your event :D
ReplyDeletelooks good.... tastes heavenly with a generous dollop of desi ghee!!
ReplyDeleteWe love BBB at home and I like this easy version.
ReplyDeletewow...simply gorgeous snaps!!! Love the green dish because I have the same one. :)
ReplyDeletebtw, this recipe is so easy to prepare. Loved it.:)
ReplyDeletethat's a great pic of sambar sadham.. i suck at taking kozhambu/rice item pics :)
ReplyDeletethx for sending to my event nags.. i will try this recipe soon.
lovely picture... love how quick this one is :)
ReplyDeleteThis is my all time fav....Hey I got the red bowl yest and here u r with the same one! Luved the color combo so got it :)
ReplyDeletejust a lil bit of ghee and some papads and im good to go :)
ReplyDeleteHi Nags, love your easy recipe with everything in the pressure cooker. I normally make it this way too, but sometimes use roasted ground coconut,coriander,red chilly masala for bisi bele bath, in which case i cook veggies dal and your pics..btw, i had made this on sat for lunch:-)
ReplyDeleteI made bisibelebhaat for the first time a while back and absolutely loved it ... your version seems much quicker. :-)
ReplyDeletenags,
ReplyDeletelooks yummy..aa banana leaf plate mustafayil ninnano..:)ente kayyilum onnu undu.same pinch..:)
btw, ur recipe diary blog looks wonderful.
Loved your version, nice pics too.. :)
ReplyDeleteEasy and delicious one!
ReplyDeleteWow, Sambar rice as a one-dish meal....this is heaven....I am big fan of these one pot dishes....saving grace during weekdays and sometimes weekends too. Great recipe...you truly rock :)
ReplyDeleteI never had this growing up, mom never made things like this, only had them after my sis getting married and then the first spoonfull i loved it, this looks so yumm and love the colour of the dish too.
ReplyDeleteNever tried BBB with sambar powder ...looks yumm, thanks for participating
ReplyDeleteI heart BBB!!! I am going to try this one but grind cinnamon, cloves and elachi with the sambar powder and use it instead!
ReplyDeletethat makes me drool no matter how many times I have it. Love the snaps!
ReplyDeleteI love sambar and always add lots of veggies to it(am not sure if that is the norm). I also love bisis bele bhath. So guess what, I love this :D
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of BBB....hmmm u r tempting me to prepare it soon....Ur sambar rice version is a quick version of BBB...
ReplyDeleteThis looks really delicious!
ReplyDeleteThats looking so delicious and quick meal..mmm yummy will try it out
ReplyDeletelooks delicious & a fast recipe .... will try it soon ......
ReplyDeleteThis sambar sadam sounds very simple!
ReplyDeleteLove bbb!! And most convenient for weeknights!
ReplyDeletethis looks easy and very delicious. i'll try it with rasam powder or kootu podi. i don't have sambar powder.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE one-pot-meals, they make life so easy! This on in particular looks great, with all the veg and spices this is a treat to the eyes and the tummy :)
ReplyDeleteYou have some outstanding clicks Nags. I always like the way you present them. Bisi Bela is always very refreshing.
ReplyDeleteA comfort food in a very beautiful bowl:-D
ReplyDeletea very nutritious & comfort food indeed. loved the pictures. Also looking forward for your next session on food photography series
ReplyDeleteYes, this is the easiest version of sambar sadam i have ever tried too. I know bisi bele bath is slightly different and coconut is added. I have seen versions without coconut too, its different in each house i guess :)
ReplyDeleteSushma - My next post is on white balance and ISO. i have moved my posts to another blog www.recipeblogforum.blogspot.com to keep this site just about recipes and cooking. Once I update the other site, I will leave a note here :) Thanks for your interest!
hai...sambar sadam looks delicious..wen i was doin my engineerin frm coimbatore, dis was d main dish v get frm hostel..i just love it..surely i wl giv a try :)
ReplyDeleteI love BBB.Yours look very quick n easy.Nice bowl :)
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of sambar sadam, but your version sounds delicious! beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeletehi nags, its quite sometime i did BBB, your bowl of sambhar sadam is so tempting, pictures beautiful as always and looks delicious
ReplyDeleteNags...your sambar sadam looks yummy....an award for you in my blog...please accept that.... :)
ReplyDeleteNags, I love rice with sambar, but sambar sadam has never been a favourite. Your pictures almost tempt me to try it out:)
ReplyDeleteBisibele bath looks delicious with a plantain leaf plate back ground. Lovely snap.
ReplyDeleteMoreover I am hosting an event called 'The potluck - chicken' . It is my first time to host one. Expecting your suggestions , support and yummy dishes . Hearty welcome dear.
http://elitefoods.blogspot.com/2009/05/announcing-event-express-potluck.html
Thanks.
Nice easy recipe. Thanks for sharing. I usually cook the veggies separately as I'm afraid that if I put it in the cooker along with dal and rice, it gets too mushy. But, in your pics, the veggies don't look mushy at all ! Maybe its just in my head..!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteYour BBB receipe is simple & quick. Have a question. you have not mentioned when to add the toor dhal? was it suppose to go along with the rice? or did I miss something
Thanks
Anon - Step 3, where I've mentioned to add all other ingredients, that's when the toor dal goes into the easy quick bisi bele bath recipe :) Hope you try it!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAmazing recipe... Tried it out and was outstanding!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks a ton! I'm a big fan of the pressure cooker and this worked out perfectly...
Will never forget this recipe ever!!!
Praveen - so sweet of you to leave such a nice comment :) Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteGOd bless you for giving such an easy version of this wonderful dish!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon. So glad you find the sambar sadam recipe useful :)
ReplyDeleteMaking your sambar sadam t'nite. I'm confident its going to come out simply yum seeing all the good comments on here. Thanks Nags, I am a new Mom and anything that saves time helps. So did you ever update that site you were mentioning above?
ReplyDeleteAnon - didn't get which website you are talking about.. I hope the sambar sadam recipe works for you like it did for many others, and me of course :)
ReplyDeleterecipeblogforum. Adnd yes it was very good. I tried it the not gooey way and we loved it!
ReplyDeleteMaking your sambar sadam t'nite. I'm confident its going to come out simply yum seeing all the good comments on here. Thanks Nags, I am a new Mom and anything that saves time helps. So did you ever update that site you were mentioning above?
ReplyDeleteAnon - didn't get which website you are talking about.. I hope the sambar sadam recipe works for you like it did for many others, and me of course :)
ReplyDeletea very nutritious & comfort food indeed. loved the pictures. Also looking forward for your next session on food photography series
ReplyDeletethis looks easy and very delicious. i'll try it with rasam powder or kootu podi. i don't have sambar powder.
ReplyDeleteThis sambar sadam sounds very simple!
ReplyDeleteI love sambar and always add lots of veggies to it(am not sure if that is the norm). I also love bisis bele bhath. So guess what, I love this :D
ReplyDeleteI heart BBB!!! I am going to try this one but grind cinnamon, cloves and elachi with the sambar powder and use it instead!
ReplyDeleteI never had this growing up, mom never made things like this, only had them after my sis getting married and then the first spoonfull i loved it, this looks so yumm and love the colour of the dish too.
ReplyDeletebtw, this recipe is so easy to prepare. Loved it.:)
ReplyDeleteHi Nags,
ReplyDeleteI make BBB very often in my house since it has many advantages. First it is one-cooker meal , wholesome and liked by kids.i am not left over with half a ladleful of sambar, or 1 cup of rice at the end of the day. Also fuel-savvy. I finally temper the bath with 2 spoons of ghee + 1 spoonful of coconut oil, heat and add peanuts and /or cashews and fry a small bunch of curry leaves for that extra colour and crunchiness. YUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!
I was searching for bisi bele bath recipe.. and i was getting such long recipes.. i almost quit the idea of making it.. then i searched 'easy bisi bele bath' ... i got ur recipe and was more than convinced... thanks for such a quick recipe.. wonderful.. i am going to cook now and will come back and tell u how it was..
ReplyDeleteHello Salt Madam is missing in your page.
ReplyDeleteHi Nags, I tried this today and it was simple and yummy. The best part is that my daughter who is a fussy eater loved this one...thanks for the recipe..
ReplyDeletethanks for letting me know ramya. glad you liked the easy bisi bele bath recipe :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a crappy Bisibele Bath recipe.. Clearly the author has no clue what Bisibelebath shoudl taste like.. she can as well mix sambar and rasam and fool every body stating it as Bisibelebath recipe.. recipe here such a Shame for a mouth watering soul food.
ReplyDeleteCheap Darshini's in Karnataka will provide better recipes than using Rasam powder :D
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Shilpa
i never claimed this to be original. it's just a quick version of a recipe that's otherwise time-consuming, in my opinion. feel free to head to darshini's if that's what you prefer.
Delete