Bisi Bele Bath with Extra Dal
Karnataka's "hot lentil rice": toor dal, rice and vegetables cooked together with tamarind and a freshly roasted spice powder.
- Region
- Karnataka
- Status
- Adaptation — more dal and less rice than the usual 1:1
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Prep 20 min · Cook 35 min
- Serves
- 3 (about 400 g each)
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Good for
- One-pot lunch, tiffin
- Tags
- Good source · High fibre · Soy-free · Whey-free · Gluten-free* · Meal-prep friendly
- Allergens
- Milk (ghee, raita), peanuts
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 465 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 65 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 12 g
Headline values are for the full plate.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bisi bele bath (complete one-pot meal) | 365 | 16 g | 56 g | 7 g | 3 g | 11 g | 6 g | 4.5 g |
| With 150 g cucumber raita | 465 | 22 g | 65 g | 12 g | 6 g | 12 g | 13 g | 4.5 g |
Good source. Includes 5 g jaggery for 3 servings. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 130 g toor dal · 80 g rice (sona masoori)
- 250 g vegetables: 50 g green peas plus carrot, beans, drumstick, pumpkin and capsicum
- 15 g bisi bele bath powder (homemade: dry-roast 1 tbsp chana dal, 1 tbsp urad dal, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin, 4 byadgi chillies, 1 small cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 1 tbsp dry coconut; grind fine)
- 10 g tamarind · 5 g jaggery · ½ tsp turmeric · 5 g salt
- Tempering: 10 g ghee · 20 g peanuts · ½ tsp mustard seeds · 10 curry leaves · pinch of hing
- Raita: 450 g curd · 150 g cucumber, grated
Method
- Pressure-cook dal and rice together with turmeric and 900 ml water for 4 whistles, until very soft.
- Cook the vegetables in 300 ml tamarind water with salt and jaggery for 10 minutes until tender.
- Add the bisi bele powder to the vegetables and simmer 3 minutes.
- Add the mashed dal-rice. Mix well and simmer 5 minutes, adding hot water so it is soft and pourable; it thickens as it stands.
- Heat ghee; fry peanuts until golden, then add mustard, curry leaves and hing. Pour over.
- Serve hot with cucumber raita.
Protein optimisation
- Toor dal supplies 9.5 g per serving, rice 2 g, peas and vegetables 2 g, peanuts 1.5 g.
- Boost: the raita adds 5.5 g; using hung curd for the raita adds about 4 g more per serving.
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Tamil Nadu sambar sadam — use sambar powder and no jaggery.
- Substitution: foxtail or little millet in place of rice.
- Storage: 2 days refrigerated; loosen with hot water when reheating.
- Food safety: cool within 1 hour; reheat until steaming throughout.
- Meal prep: good.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com