Venturing Afield with Indian Recipes

Last year I created for myself a cookbook of Indian recipes I had made, plus adding in some that I wanted to try. Of course, with as much as I love Indian foods and flavors, I am constantly finding new things to try. And so it was that in the course of researching Indian food, or spices or whatever of the moment took my interest, I discovered recipes for Bisi Bele Bath.

You might well be saying "Bisi . . . . .what????" That is pretty much what I did. 

Bisi Bele Bath

Many, many Indian recipes call for a pre-made spice mixture. Of course, many households make up their own, but in this day and age, pre-mixed spices exist in packets, boxes or jars, and many Indians choose to go this route. It certainly would cut down on the amount of different spices one must keep in the home. Making from scratch means a very long list of spices needed to be on hand. As it happens, I have an amazing amount of Indian spices on hand! 

Bisi Bele Bath

So when I came upon recipes for Bisi Bele Bath, a vegetarian recipe of rice, lentils and vegetables from the Indian state of Karnataka, of course it called for a spice mixture. Some recipes online had all the spices listed and created the mixture as with any recipe: get out the spices, measure, toast, grind (or not). Other recipes I encountered called for using a Bisi Bele Bath Spice Mix, with their own recipe available on their site. And some few other recipes called for a particular favorite brand of Bisi Bele Bath Spice Mix. Reading all these recipes, it became a personal challenge then, to make up my own spice mix for this dish.

Coming back to the unusual name for this dish, it is explained everywhere online that Bisi = Piping Hot; Bele = Lentils; Bath = Made with Rice. So, in essence, Bisi Bele Bath means "A Piping Hot Lentil and Rice Dish." Paraphrasing. The addition of vegetables to this dish is optional. Vegetables can be added to the meal in other ways, if you choose.

Bisi Bele Bath Spice Mix 

Makes enough for a few recipes of Bisi Bele Bath

4 dried red chilies (with or without seeds)
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4 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
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1½ tablespoons channa dal (Bengal gram/desi chickpea)
2 teaspoons urad dal
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4 whole cloves
3 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
4-inch piece soft (true) cinnamon, or 1-inch piece of cassia bark 
1 - 2 pieces mace blades* (see Note)
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 Kapok buds (Marathi moggu)* (see Notes)
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1 tablespoon white poppy seeds
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4 teaspoons dried unsweetened coconut
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1 teaspoon asafetida
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10 - 12 fresh curry leaves

Heat a dry skillet over medium to medium high heat. Have a wide plate or bowl ready to hold the hot spices for cooling, after toasting. Each section of the spices will be toasted separately, turning out to the plate to cool. Toast until the spices are fragrant, but in no way burnt.

1. First, toast the dried chilies. If you wish less heat, break them and remove seeds, along with stems. Toast the chilies until they begin to change color; turn out to the plate to cool.
2. Add in to the skillet the coriander, cumin and fenugreek seeds and stirring constantly, allow them to change color slightly and smell wonderful, then
   turn out to the plate to cool.
3.  Now add in the two dals (dry, uncooked) and stirring constantly, allow them to become golden brown, but not burnt. Then,
   turn out to the plate to cool.
4. Add to the skillet the cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon pieces, mace blades, black peppercorns and Kapok buds, if using. Toast them until fragrant, how long will depend on how high the heat. Stir constantly until colored, then turn out to the plate to cool.
5. Pour in the white poppy seeds and keep them moving, just until they start to change color, then turn out to the plate to cool.
6. Add in the dry coconut and stir quickly, it will go from white to blackened in seconds! Once the coconut turns golden, turn out to the plate to cool.
7. Add in the asafetida and stir quickly, just until it smells of onions, then turn out to the plate to cool.
8. Add in the fresh curry leaves and toss, stirring until they are completely dried and crisped, then turn out to the plate to cool.    

Allow the spices to cool to nearly room temperature, then grind them to powder using a spice grinder/coffee grinder used only for spices. This may require grinding in various batches. Once ground, stir well to distribute evenly, then keep stored in a tightly sealed glass jar in a cool, dark place.

NOTES:  If mace blades are not available, substitute by adding in about ¼ teaspoon ground mace at the end, after all spices are ground to powder. Kapok buds, or Marathi moggu, are a new spice for me. I ordered them and used them as the recipes say this is an authentic flavor. If you do not have or cannot get them, just omit.

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In the U.S., we don't often go for, or even think of, mixing up lentil and rice dishes, unless you are vegetarian, and then it is important because rice and lentils combined make a complete protein. Simply cooked rice and lentils are not much of a draw, as they haven't much flavor. All I can say is that this dish does not lack flavor! It is a thick, soft mixture, which may not seem to appeal. But flavors are wonderful, so despite what your eyes may tell you, it is worthwhile giving this dish a try.

Bisi Bele Bath

Bisi Bele Bath

Serves 4 to 6 

¾ cup toor dal (aka ardhar dal)
¾ cup long or short grain rice
5 cups water
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¼ tamarind, from a compressed block 
1 cup water, hot
2½ tablespoons Bisi Bele Bath Spice Mix
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1 tablespoon ghee or oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
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½ cup cubed carrot
½ cup green peas
½ cup potatoes in small cubes
½ cup green beans, cut in little pieces

TEMPERING / FLAVORING:
1 tablespoon ghee or oil
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
10 fresh curry leaves  
1 dried red chili, whole
10 cashews
½ teaspoon asafetida/hing 

Before beginning any prep, rinse the toor dal in copious quantities of water, until the water runs mostly clear. Then, cover the dal with water and set aside for ½ hour. At this time also, set the tamarind chunk to soak separately, in the hot water.

Once dal has soaked, combine the dal with the rice in a pot of adequate size, cover with the 5 cups of water and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until the rice and dal are both very soft, 20 to 30 minutes. Use a spoon or a potato masher to mash up the mixture. Set aside.

In a skillet, heat the ghee and add in the chopped onion and salt to cook until soft. While onion is sauteeing, break apart and strain the tamarind in a strainer over a bowl, to catch all the liquids. Press to get as much from the tamarind as possible, then discard the seeds and fibers. Add the Bisi Bele Bath Spice Mix to the tamarind and stir. Once the onion is nicely soft, add the tamarind liquid into the skillet, along with the carrots, peas, potatoes and green beans, then cook the vegetables until tender, adding water if needed for cooking. Once done, pour the contents of the skillet into the rice and lentil pot.

Set the skillet back on the heat and add in the ghee for tempering. Once ghee is very hot, add the brown mustard, until the seeds begin popping. Quickly add in the curry leaves, dried chili, whole cashews and the asafetida/hing. Cook for just a few minutes, until everything is very fragrant. Pour half of the contents of the skillet into the pot with the lentils and rice, stirring well, then pour the mixture into a serving bowl, garnishing with the reserved tempering mixture for presentation.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Lamb Biryani is a Royal Treat

I seem to be on an Indian trend of late. There are some few other things I have made, but outside of quick standards like chili, pizza or soup, Indian has been it. Part of this is just that we love Indian flavors. Part of this is that I have found some interesting recipes that intrigued me. Part of it is that we held an Indian dinner for some friends. And now, we are hosting another Indian dinner with the same friends and some new ones. This dinner will be November 3rd. 

Kachche Gosht Biryani

With this in mind, and the strictures of no nuts and no mushrooms, I have been working to piece together a meal that makes some kind of sense - both from my standpoint as hostess and cook, as well as from the standpoint of how an Indian dinner might be served. I had originally thought to make Korma, either chicken or lamb. However Kormas use nuts, almonds and or cashews, as a ground up thickener to the sauce. A no-go.

Most of my Indian meals have had a sauce, curry style. This has been mainly as my husband doesn't care for plain rice, nor does he care for runny foods. If I serve white rice, or saffron rice, something gravy-like has to be poured over it to make it palatable for him. 

Still, he does like things like Chinese fried rice, with a lot of things added in, so in planning for this upcoming Indian meal, Biryani occurred to me. Biryani is most often a special-occasion dish, often a royal dish, kind of an all-in-one, where the meat and rice are combined in savory harmony with a lot of spices and fried onions and such. Saffron is a must. In photos from Indian cookbooks, it is often shown served with dots of silver leaf. Royal, indeed.

Kachche Gosht Biryani

In doing research on just how to assemble this amazing dish, I came across a word I had not seen before. The name of the Lamb and Rice Biryani is "Gosht" (Lamb) Biryani. In front of the word Gosht was the word "Kachche". I wondered what this might mean, so I went looking and finally found out that this means that the dish is made with the meat still raw. The meat (usually marinated) is set into the bottom of a pot and the partially cooked rice is poured over top. Liquid is added and then the dish is cooked either stovetop or in the oven. I wondered how the dish would taste, and if the meat would be cooked through properly. I found that the flavor was excellent and it was certainly cooked through and tender.

The alternative is called "Pakki" Biryani and this means the meat cubes are fried before adding to the pot. It appears that the most authentic method is with the meat still raw. That answered my question and also gave me incentive to try the dish out and ascertain if it worked, if the flavors were good and if the meat cooked properly. I made the dish yesterday and found the answer to all three questions was a resounding "YES!" You might see cashews in the photos, and yes, I added them to the trial dish, just to see how the flavors and steps went. I left them out of the dish for the guests with nut allergies.

That said, there are a LOT of steps to the dish. It seemed unduly complicated, or maybe just clumsy in the directions. I looked up various recipes online, as well as in some cookbooks of my own. Comparing styles and ingredients, I made what I felt to be a good approximation, but all my own. I cannot know ahead of time if it will all work out or not, but once I work on a dish like this, I can see where any difficulties lie, and correct them or facilitate them. One thing in particular was getting the onions fried early enough to have them for use IN the dish and not just as a decoration for on top of the finished product. The recipe calls for 4 onions to be sliced and then sauteed until well-browned and crisped but not burnt! To get that many onions to cook down to browned and caramelized takes a good half hour, stirring quite often. I was running the ragged edge on timing for the assembly and the onions were still nowhere near caramelized. I will keep that in mind for making it next time, possibly making this step earlier in the day rather than so close to assembly.

While there are a lot of steps and a lot of ingredients and different methods of prep work involved, this makes a large amount, suitable for quite a few people. The fact that it is baked for about 45 minutes frees one up for other last minute tasks while the pot is in the oven. All in all, it is a supremely worthwhile dish and a total delight to eat.

Kachche Gosht Biryani

Kachche Gosht Biryani

(Lamb Biryani Cooked with Raw Meat)

Serves 6 to 8

1½ pounds lamb, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ teaspoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
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2 tablespoons oil or ghee
4 large onions sliced, quartered
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½ cup sultanas
½ cup whole raw cashews
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1½ cups basmati rice
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3½ teaspoons salt, divided
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1 tablespoon garam masala powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 cup yogurt
½ cup fresh mint, chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped 2 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon saffron 
¼ teaspoon kewra water, optional
¼ teaspoon rose water, optional

WHOLE MASALA
3 green cardamom slightly crushed
1 inch stick cinnamon
3 whole cloves
1 black cardamom, slightly crushed
1 large tej patta leaf ("Indian Bay Leaf")

½ teaspoon black cumin (shahi jeera) lightly ground
2 inch piece ginger cut into thin strips
3 tablespoons melted ghee
1 cup water
½ cup milk
Cilantro leaves for garnish

Early in the day, place the lamb in a deep bowl, add the minced ginger and garlic. Mix well so that all the lamb pieces are covered. Cover the bowl with cling film and place the bowl in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours.

Earlier in the afternoon, heat oil or ghee in a large skillet, add the onions and sprinkle on ½ teaspoon of the salt, then fry till well browned and caramelized. Drain on absorbent paper.

In the same skillet, still with some ghee or oil in it, sauté the sultanas and cashews for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the raisins puff and change color and the cashews begin to look golden. Turn out into a bowl and reserve for serving.

Set rice in large container with water to cover by at least 1 inch. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Take the lamb out of the refrigerator. Stir together 1½ teaspoons of salt, the garam masala, black pepper and turmeric, then add to the meat along with the yogurt, a third of the fried onions, half the fresh mint, half the cilantro and mix very well. Cover the bowl with plastic film and set aside to marinate for at least thirty minutes.

In a small bowl, dissolve saffron in warm milk. Add in the kewra water and rose water; set aside. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Drain the rice, then put it into a saucepan with plenty of water and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to boil and cook till half done, about 6 minutes. Drain well, returning the rice to its pan. Stir in the saffron-milk mixture, then stir in the whole masala spices, another third of the fried onions and the remaining mint and cilantro.

Take a heavy duty pot such as enameled cast iron or a heavy braising pot with tight fitting lid and add in the melted ghee to cover the bottom. Spread the marinated lamb into the pot and top it with the rice mixture. Sprinkle the black cumin seeds and the ginger strips over the rice press in. Combine the water and milk and pour overall. Cover the pan with a lid. Set on a hot burner for a few minutes to take the chill off the mixture, then place the pot in the oven and time for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees and time for a further 20 to 25 minutes. Check that the liquids are all absorbed, then set the covered pot aside until ready to serve.

To serve, pour the rice and meat onto a large patter. Scatter over the top the remaining fried onions and the reserved fried sultanas and cashews. Garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Paella - Make it as You Want It

Saffron I bought in Spain

I love Paella. If anyone does not know what Paella (pronounced pah-A-ya) is, I will explain as best I can. The simplest answer: Paella is a rice dish from Spain.  The rice is usually flavored with paprika and/or smoked paprika and saffron. It is often made over an open fire. This rice dish usually includes some vegetables; onion and garlic always, and then it gets tricky, depending on whose recipe you see. The dish also includes some kind of meat; most often it will contain seafood and/or fish, but it can include chicken, ham, rabbit, pork, chorizo. 

I learned to make paella from two best friends from Guatemala, who have relatives living in Spain. When they made it at my house one time, I copied down all they did and had made the recipe that way ever since. It made enough to feed an army, and it contained every kind of meat or seafood they could find: chicken, pork, ham, chorizo, clams, mussels, octopus, fish. (Beef is the ONE meat that is never in any paella I have heard of). It had onion, garlic, green beans, peas, carrot, olives and capers. It was absolutely wonderfully flavored, and I have loved it, always.

That said, when once I was in Barcelona, I asked a taxi driver to take us to a restaurant that did not cater to a tourist crowd, but instead a place he or his family would go for a good meal. They had paella on the menu, so I ordered it. While I expected something different from the "paella" I knew, this one was relatively tasteless. The sole "meat" included in the dish was gigantic rings of squid. The rice had no particular color and no particular flavor. Obviously it was lacking anything like saffron or paprika. It was an entire disappointment, to my mentality at the time. I have not traveled anywhere else in Spain, and that was the one day I was there, so I cannot remotely judge all of Spain by that one dish. I am absolutely certain there are marvelous paella dishes to be had. And as it happens, paella was originally made by shepherds out in fields, and used whatever meat or other thing might be available at the time, therefore rabbit paella was common, and in other areas of Spain, paella is made with whatever is common in the area, thus Squid Paella is normal in Barcelona, a coastal city.

My new "Paellera"

Recently I acquired a real paella pan. Oh yes, there is a specific type of pan used to create this dish, called a "paellera" (pah-ay-YAIR-ah). A paella pan is very shallow. If you get a larger pan, the width grows, but the depth stays the same. This is to ensure that the rice gets cooked through properly. I can attest that it is far more difficult to cook all the rice through if it is made in a deep pot. It can take a couple of hours or more to cook through in a deep pot. I have done it. I had never heard of a paella pan when my friends made it at my house so long ago. So after all these years I have a paella pan. It is a 15-inch pan and will accommodate enough paella to feed 6 - 8 people. I just had to make paella.

Most paella that we know here will include some kind of shellfish, at least what we know here in the US. Most often seen in photos (as seen right) are the shining black mussels and/or clams standing up prettily from the rice. I love seafood, but unfortunately I developed an allergy, so I do not eat it anymore; I could, but why go through that hassle? My husband, on the other hand, WILL NOT eat seafood. He "hates

A Typical Paella, courtesy of Spain-Recipes.com

paella" because it contains seafood. Paella does not absolutely have to have seafood, so I decided to baptize my brand new paella pan with an all-meat paella.

I used a whole chicken and the addition of a small amount of ham, pork and chorizo. Other than this change, the only other thing I did differently from my friends' version was leaving out the carrots. In general, I pared down that humongous recipe to one more manageably sized, while keeping all the ingredients I loved. I could not find chorizo sausages in the grocery here, so I got a tube of chorizo meat; thus there are no pretty round slices in my dish. Here is my recipe, using my 15-inch paella pan:

Mixed Meat Paella

Serves 6 to 8

Mixed Meat Paella

olive oil, as needed
1 whole chicken
salt for sprinkling chicken and pork
½ pound pork loin, cut in small chunks
1 cup cubed ham
4 - 6 ounces chorizo, sliced
4 cloves garlic
3 teaspoons Kosher salt (slightly less if regular table salt)
1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimenton de la Vera), or use all Spanish Paprika
½ teaspoon saffron threads
1 onion, chopped
½ green pepper, cubed
1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes
1½ cups medium grain rice
1 small jar (4 ounces) diced pimiento
2 teaspoons nonpareil capers
12 green olives
¾ cup frozen green peas, thawed
¾ cup green beans, cut in 2-inch lengths
3 cups water or stock

Have handy a paella pan or a very large, shallow pan. It can be a shallow roaster or large, oven-safe skillet.

First cut the chicken. Cut thighs into 2 pieces each, drumsticks can stay whole, breasts should be cut into 3 - 4 pieces each. Remove wingtips. Freeze the wingtips and the back for making stock at some future date. Heat a large skillet and add some olive oil. Sprinkle salt over the chicken pieces and also the pork. Over medium to medium-high heat, brown the chicken pieces a few at a time without over crowding the pan. Make sure they are nicely golden brown, 10 minutes or so per batch. As they are browned, remove them to a plate. Once the chicken is browned, add in the pork and toss quickly to sear; remove to the plate. Set the skillet elsewhere to cool while continuing with the recipe.

In a mortar with pestle, smash the garlic with the salt and once soft and semi-liquefied, add the paprika and/or smoked paprika and the saffron threads. Continue to work these ingredients until well combined and homogeneous, adding a little olive oil if needed to make a paste.

Set the the paella pan (or other) onto the heat and add more olive oil. Add in the onion and green pepper and saute until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the can of tomatoes, juice and all and allow to cook down slightly. Add in the garlic mixture and stir well to incorporate. Add the rice and water or stock and stir. Add the peas and green beans, capers and olives and the jar of pimientos, with the liquid. Stir just to distribute the ingredients. Add the ham, chorizo and browned pork, distributing them evenly over the rice mixture. Set the pieces of browned chicken decoratively onto the rice. 

Mixed Meat Paella Served

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Let the paella come to a boil and reduce heat so that a low but visible boil takes place for about 15 minutes. Cover the pan with foil and set in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn oven off and allow the paella to set in the hot oven for another 15 minutes, to allow the rice to completely absorb the liquids. Enjoy!

From cutting the chicken to out of the oven I made this Paella in 1½ hours, total. If your grocery has already cut up whole chicken, all you have to do is make a few pieces smaller. Much prep work can be accomplished while other things are cooking. While chicken is browning you can make the garlic/paprika/saffron mixture and set aside. Slice the green beans and thaw the peas. The whole trick is being organized. Have everything in place and ready and this is a wonderful dinner or party fare.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.