Bahala Bath-the Grand Finale of a South Indian Meal. There are many ways of making Bahala Bath & it varies with families & states. I am combining the best of everything in this recipe: Rice(new quality which cooks very soft) - 1 cup Water - 3 cups ( adjust the quantity ofwater to cook the rice very soft & mushy ) Butter - 1 tbsp Milk - 1/2 cup Fresh curds - 2 cups Green chilli-ginger paste - 1 tsp ( optional ) Salt, Hing or dry ginger powder Chopped cucumber - ½ cup Chopped mango - ½ cup ( optional ) To decorate: Long red chillies - 4 Long green chilies - 4 Whole cashew split into 2 - 10 Raisins - 1 tbsp Curry leaves - few Chopped coriander leaves - few Tiny seedless green grapes - ½ cup To temper: Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Cook rice very soft & mushy . When hot , add butter, salt, hing or ginger powder, green chilli-ginger paste& mash with a potato masher to the consistency of your choice. Some prefer it very mushy & some, a little grainy. When cold, add milk, curds & mix thoroughly. Mix cucumber & mangoes as well. Temper both chillies, mustard seeds, cashews, Raisins ( this should just swell ) & curry leaves. Arrange the tempered ingredients decoratively. Some like to add grated coconut and (or) chopped onions for a different taste. Bahalabath decorated with greenchillies,violetgrapes,corianderleaves,raisins,etc. Bahalabath decorated with redchillies,greengrapes,curryleaves,cashewnuts,etc. Bahalabath decorated with shredded carrots,coriander,pomegranate,boondhis,red,green & yellow powders,etc.
Eight Jewel Rice - Name justifies the taste ! Raw long-grain rice - 1 ½ cups Carrot - 1 mediuFrench beans - 12 Shredded cabbage - ½ cup Spring onions - 4 Spring onion tops, finely chopped - 1 cup Shredded pineapple - ½ cup Shredded apple, with red skin on - ¼ cup Almonds - ¼ cup Shelled walnuts - ¼ cup Oil - 7 tbsp Ajinomoto - ¼ tsp Soya sauce - 4 tbsp Salt Boil rice so that grains are separate. Scrape carrot & string french beans. Drop the cabbage, whole carrot & french beans for 1 minute into water to which ½ tsp salt is added. Drain & cool. Cut carrot & beans into thin long strips. Peel onion & cut into thin long strips. Boil almonds & walnuts in 1 ½ cups of water for about 5 mts. Drain & blanch the almonds. Heat the oil, fry both nuts till brown. Drain & set aside. In the remaining oil, fry onions, carrot, beans, cabbage, ajinomoto & salt for 2 mts on high flame. Add rice, soya sauce & spring onion tops. Stir fry over a high flame for 3-5 mts Add apple & mix well. Garnish with pineapple, fried almonds & walnuts.
Tomato Bhath - My version called Thakkali Sadam For SBS photos, please go to http://www.indusladies.com/forums/970356-post1.html Rice – preferably long-grained - 1 cup Cinnamon - 2 one inch pieces Bay leaves - 2 pieces Tomatoes - 4 big (chopped) Onions - 3 (chopped) Ginger & garlic - 1 tbsp (minced or paste) Green chillies - 3 (slit) Mint leaves - a handful (chopped) Coriander leaves - - a handful (chopped) Oil - 4 tbsp Clean wash & soak rice for 15 mtes. Drain well. In a pressure cooker or pan, heat oil & temper in order ( adding one after the previous one is fried) – bay leaves, cinnamon, chopped onions, ginger garlic paste, chopped tomatoes, slit green chillies, chopped mint & coriander leaves& finally add rice. Fry well add 2 cups of water & salt. When water starts boiling well, close the cooker, keep the weight, lower the flame & switch off after 10 mtes. Cool& open. It is optional to add 1 tsp sugar with salt.
Bisibela - 3 different Types - without vegetables, with vegetables & with peanuts. Plain Bisibela without vegetables: Rice - 1 cup Tur dhal - ½ - ¾ cup Tamarind paste - 2 tsp Fry in ½ tsp oil: Dhaniya - 3 tbsp Red chillies - 10 Udad dhal - 1 tsp Gram dhal - 2 tsp Methi seeds - 1 tsp Jeera - ½ tsp Hing - 1 tsp Cinnamon - 2 “ Cloves - 2 Cardamom - 1 Curry leaves - few Copra - 2 tbsp (add at the end) To temper: Oil + ghee - 2 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Red chillies - 2, broken Wash & cook rice, dhal & haldi together in 6 cups of water first, till soft. In 1 tsp oil, fry all ingredients for masala, adding copra last & immediately switching off. Powder the masalas. Mix tamarind paste in 1 cup of water. Now mix cooked rice & dhal mixture, tamarind water, masala, curry leaves & little jaggery (optional) & cook for one more whistle. Cool, open & temper. Serve hot with ghee. Bisibela With Vegetables: This method involves cooking all ingredients together & includes vegetables also. Rice - 1 ½ cups Tur dhal - ¾ cup Tamarind - 2 tsp Salt, haldi Cubed English vegetables - 2 cups To fry each separately till golden & powder with 1 cup grated copra: Red chillies - 8 Dhaniya - 3 tbsp Gram dhal - 3 tbsp Urad dhal - 1 ½ tbsp Cinnamon - 1” Cloves - 4 To temper: Mixture of oil & ghee - 2 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Wash rice & dhal & keep ready. Cut all vegetables. Take 9 – 10 cups of water including tamarind paste.Take a pressure cooker, temper as given, add all ingredients. When the mixture boils vigorously, close the cooker & keep the weight. When the first whistle comes, simmer & cook for 15 mts. If you are adding chopped onions, add raw at the beginning or fried in little oil at the end. Serve hot with ghee. The photo is posted below. Mysore Bisibela: Precook, soaked rice - 1 cup , tur dhal - 3/4 cup & raw groundnuts - 3/4 cup, each separately. For bisibela powder , take red chillies - 10 Roasted gram ( pottukadalai )- 1/3 cup Dhaniya - 1/3 cup grated copra-1 cup Fry each separately & powder together.(instead of buying copra I usually keep coconut in a plate & microwave it in a plate for 10 mts on med: till it is dry ) Hing - 1 tsp For masala powder: cardamom - 5 , cinnamon - 2" , cloves - 5 , kuskus - 1tsp Fry the above & powder. Now cook together in a pressurecooker or pan directly, cooked rice , dhal , groundnuts , both the powders, salt, haldi, 2 tsp tamarind paste & 2 cups of water after blending everything well. Cook for one whistle. Cool , open & temper with mustard seeds & broken red chillies in a mixture of ghee & gingelly oil. Serve decorated with coriander leaves.
Cabbage Bath - let us call it Muttaikose Saadam. Rice (thin, long variety) - 1 cup Chopped cabbage - 2 cups Salt To grind: Coconut grated - ¾ cup Green chillies - 3-4 Pottukadalai (fried gram) - 2 tbsp To temper: Oil - 3 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad dhal - 2 tsp Gram dhal - 2 tsp Red chillies - 1-2 Hing - ½ tsp Haldi - ¼ tsp Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped Cook rice so that grains are separate. In a kadai, heat oil, temper all ingredients & finally add chopped cabbage. Cover & cook cabbage in its own steam. When done, add ground paste & salt. Mix thoroughly & add rice & salt. Stir the mixture thoroughly from top to bottom so that cabbage & paste become a homogeneous mixture with rice. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve with any raita.
Ghuska Biryani - Ofcourse, my version is vegetarian ! Basmati rice - 2 cups Ginger 1 ½” & Garlic 10-12 pieces - crushed together Cloves - 2 Cinnamon - 1” Bay leaves - 2 pieces From 1 ½ cups grated coconut take Coconut milk - fairly thick - 1 cup Thin milk - 3 cups Curds - 1 tbsp Onions - 2 big, sliced Green chillies - 2, slit Chopped coriander leaves - 1 cup Pudina leaves - ½ cup Oil & ghee together - ½ cup. Soak rice for 20 mts & drain well. In a pressure cooker or big pan, heat the mixture of oil & ghee. When hot, add bay leaves, cinnamon & cloves. When fried, add chopped onions, when they become transparent, add crushed ginger-garlic. Then fry green chillies & add curds. Fry for 2 mtes & add rice. Fry well till colour changes. Add both oconut milks & salt. When it starts boiling, add coriander leaves & mint. WHEN THE WHOLE MIXTURE STARTS BOILING RAPIDLY, close the cooker, keep the weight & simmer the flame. Switch off after 10 mts. Open after 15 mts. Since it is cooked under pressure in a closed vessel, it tastes closest to dhum method of cooking of olden days & the flavour is very good. The usual side dish for this is Brinjal Masala. Note: If you extract coconut milk in 2 instalments, more cream will come out than in one instalment.
Kadamaba Saadam - Different from Kadambam of Karnataka. Rice - 1 cup Tur dhal - 2 tbsp Tamarind paste - 2 tbsp ( more or less, according to your taste) Red chilli powder - 2 tsp Green chilli ground paste - 2 tsp (or finely minced) Vegetables: Small onions (peeled) - ½ cup (optional) Chopped keerai - 1 cup (can be any keerai, including drumstick leaves) Cubes of potato, seppankizangu, yam, koorkankizangu - 2 cups Pieces of clusterbeans, brinjal, banana, avaraikkai - 2 cups Mochai paruppu - ½ cup (or soak dry ones & cook) Cubes of sour mango - ½ cup Coconut grated - 1 cup (grind ½ cup fine) Gingelly oil - ½ cup Boil all vegetables except mango & onion. In a pressure cooker cook tur dhal with haldi in 1 cup of water for 2 whistles. Cool, open add rice & 4 cups of water. Cook till done. Add keerai first & cook. Then add cooked vegetables,mango, tamarind paste mixed with water, green chilli paste, red chilli powder & salt. Adjust to your desired consistency. Allow the mixture to boil well. Fry onions in 1 tbsp oil & add. Add ground & grated coconut. When all ingredients have blended well, break 4-5 fried appalams into pieces & add just before removing. Temper 1 tsp mustard seeds in half of the oil & add. Add remaining raw gingelly oil & mix well. I shall post " Morkuzambu Kadamba Saadam" separately.
Pattani Saadam - Very similar to Peas Pulao Basmati rice - 1 cup Peas - 1 cup Water - 2 cups Curds - 1 tbsp Bay leaves - 1 Cloves - 2 Cardamom - 2 Onions - 2 medium – slice Mixture of oil & ghee – 3 tbsp Salt Crush the following together coarsely: Small onions - a handful Green chillies - 4 Ginger - 1” Garlic - 5,6 Chopped coriander leaves - ½ cup Soak the rice for 15-20 mts & drain. Heat the oil-ghee mixture in a pressure pan. When hot, add bay leaves, cloves & cinnamon. Add sliced onions & fry till they turn transparent. Next add the crushed mixture & fry till the raw smell goes. Next add peas & fry for 3,4 mts. Add curds & then add rice & fry till colour changes. Add water & salt. WHEN THE WHOLE MIXTURE STARTS BOILING RAPIDLY, close the cooker & keep the weight. Immediately simmer the flame & cook for 10 mts. Switch off & allow the pressure to drop. Open after 15 mts. Serve with a raita.
Kothamalli Saadam - The Green Revolution Starts ! Starting with this, I plan to post pudina saadam, karuveppilai saadam & venthayakeerai saadam next. Thin variety of rice 1 cup Salt Grind to paste: Coriander leaves 2 cups (chopped) Green chillies 4-5 Tamarind paste 1 tsp To temper: Mustard seeds 1 tsp Udad dhal 1 tbsp Oil 2 tbsp To garnish: Roasted peanuts 3 tbsp Soft white grated coconut - 2 tbsp (optional) Cook rice so that the grains are separate. Cool by spreading on a plate. Clean & chop the coriander leaves & grind the paste. Heat oil in a vessel, add tempering ingredients & then the paste. Fry till the raw smell goes. Add rice & salt. Mix well & remove. Garnish with roasted peanuts & grated coconut – it looks very attractive. Tip: (1) For all mixed rices, if we are using urad dhal or gram dhal for tempering, soak them for 1 hr. Then drain & spread on a cloth till dry. Then use it for tempering, they will be very crisp. (2) For this rice urad dhal or gram dhal or both together can be used. I prefer to use one dhal only for a rice. Since I use gram dhal for pudina saadam, I use urad dhal for this. (3)1 Tbsp of raw oil added at the end enhances the taste of any mixed variety of rice. This is also one's preference.
Karuveppilai Saadam - Curry leaves rice is becoming very popular, of late. Thin variety of rice - 1 cup Fresh curry leaves - 1—1 ½ cups (quantity is optional) Salt To fry in 1 tsp oil & powder: Red chillies - 5-6 Pepper - 1 tsp Urad dhal - 1 tbsp Seasame seeds - 2 tsp Khus khus - 2 tsp To temper: Oil - 2 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad dhal - 2 tsp Gram dhal - 2 tsp To garnish: Coarsely powdered groundnuts - 2 tbsp (optional) Cook the rice so that grains are separate. Dry roast the curry leaves on a kadai & powder ( a better alternative is to spread them on a plate & micro Hi for 4,5 mts, cool & powder – the green colour is beautifully maintained.) Cool the rice, add the made powder, curry leaf powder & salt. Temper as given & garnish. 1 tbsp raw oil added at the end enhances the taste of any mixed rice.