“What is your favorite dish?” is a question I have never been able to answer sincerely. Simply because there are too many and they change too often, depending on the season, situation, or my mood in general. But ask me another question. Is there a dish I can eat for days or months at a stretch without getting bored? I think yes, I can answer that with a simple response - ‘Bisibele Bhath!’
Having grown in the city of Bangalore in South India, my first encounter with this delicious hot-lentil-sour-rice dish was at a temple. On a festive day when rituals are celebrated at a large scale, many temples in India are seen distributing a small bowl of ‘prasadam’’ - an edible religious offering, to worshippers at the exit. The prasadam is usually a milk based sweet candy in India’s northern regions but in the South, it is often a rice based spicy dish. Bisibele bhath is one such dish prepared twice a year in most temples.
Standing between the carved wooden railing at the temple exit, I was barely excited about the small leaf bowl of prasadam being handed out to me. I was a spoilt child, not very interested in eating prasadam. But out of respect, I still accepted it. Little did I know, one bowl would seem too less after a while. Little did I know, I’d learn the name of a new dish that day. Little did I know, this well-known dish in the South Indian cuisine would come to my rescue every time I needed some TLC.
This was probably the beginning of troubles in the kitchen at home. Being North Indians, we had a cook who often prepared North Indian delicacies but was not well acquainted with the nuances of South Indian cooking. Although Bisibele bhath was a well-known dish, it was rarely made in most restaurants. Probably because the traditional preparation of this dish is quite elaborate and demands a lot of time. At that time, the dry masala powder used in its preparations was not readily available in the markets and was often made from scratch by very few homemakers. To my dismay, the cook had no way of knowing what I was talking about and what this dish tasted like. My mother had gotten tired of my ‘requests’ to make the bisibele-something-rice we had at the temple. Fortunately, our South Indian maid knew exactly what bisibele bhath was, and to my mother’s relief, shared the recipe of its roasted, powdered masala and taught them how to prepare this miracle.
True to it’s character, Bisibele bhath belongs to royalty. This lentil and rice dish originated within the walls of the Mysore Palace in Karnataka about 300 years ago, where it was laden with pure ghee and dominated by the aromatic flavors of fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, cashews, cinnamon, cloves, turmeric, coconut and even cardamom. The original version has seen many variations ever since. As the recipe leaked out of the palace kitchens and spread to the western parts of Karnataka flocked with vegetarian eateries, it was modified in taste with the addition of many vegetables, making it a complete and nutritious meal in itself. It was and still is often served along with crunchy potato chips and fried ‘papadams’ to satisfy the Indian penchant for crunchiness.
“What is so wonderful about bisibele bhath?” you may ask. I’m not so sure. But I do know, this was the first dish I really wanted to learn to cook, for fear of ever losing access to it. It is nutritious, wholesome and is almost a balanced meal when combined with ‘raita’ or light yoghurt dip. My mother has often pampered me or cheered me up with a large bowl of traditionally prepared steaming bisibele bhath and I have devised my own secret shortcut to making this dish within an hour. This is not just my comfort food, its my ‘memory of good times’ food. It’s my mother’s ‘daughter food.’
Today, Bisibele Bhath has gained popularity and its ready-made masalas and microwaveable packs can be picked off the shelves of many supermarkets. It constitutes for mid day meals, lunch and even dinner in many homes and restaurants. Bisibele bhath has popularly paved its way into North Indian kitchens like mine where it serves as a healthy meal for fussy eaters. A poor man’s source of delight and a rich man’s source of nutrition, anyone who has ever eaten bisibele bhath out of a banana leaf bowl in a temple, will truly feel like the dish is blessed and the best is served at the temple, even if only twice a year.
Great post! Keep it coming. :)
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