Bisi Bele Bath Pressure Cooker Split Pea Brown Rice Soup is a easy weeknight meal in one pot. Everything in the Pressure cooker. Vegan Glutenfree Indian Recipe
Bisi bele bath is a popular dish that is served in Southern India, usually in restaurants serving Udupi cuisine.
The traditional Bisi Bele Bath recipe is quite an elaborate process. The split peas, rice and vegetables are all cooked separately. There is also a special spice blend that needs to be either made from scratch or bought for this dish, along with the some non general grocery store ingredients like tamarind and curry leaves.
Today’s recipe is my One pot Pressure cooker version! Dry roast some spices to make a somewhat bisi bele bath spice blend, then put everything in the pressure cooker. 20 minutes later you have a meal! Serve with salads, papadums, potato chips or other crackers. Easier, faster and equally delicious.
The soup generally has a flavorful complex and sour flavor profile. Use whatever spices you have. A few here and there will still make a flavorful meal.
The soup thickens and thickens by the next day. See above.
More Dals from the blog.
Mung Bean and Black eyed Pea Dal
Toor dal with crisp cilantro
Sprouted Mung Bean Soup.
Bisi Bele Bath Pressure Cooker Split Pea Brown Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (57.33 g) split pigeon pea toor dal or split yellow pea, washed and soaked for an hour
- 1/2 cup (95 g) brown basmati rice washed and soaked for an hour
- 1 dried red chili or use red chili flakes to taste
- 2 tsp chana dal or yellow split pea
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp shredded coconut dried or fresh
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cardamom
- 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) black pepper or 4 black pepper corns
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cumin seeds
- 10 curry leaves coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup (80 g) chopped onion or sliced shallots
- 1 cup (149 g) chopped tomato
- 2 tsp sambhar powder or use 1.5 tsp coriander powder + 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) turmeric
- 2 tsp tamarind paste
- 1 to 1.5 cups (110 g) chopped vegetables like green beans carrots, eggplant, peas
- 2 Tbsp raw peanuts or use sunflower seeds to make nut-free
- 3/4 to 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) sugar
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Dry roast the red chili, split pea, coriander seeds until the split peas change color. 1 to 2 minutes. Add the coconut, mix and cook for 15 seconds. Cool, grind with cinnamon cardamom and keep aside.
- In a pressure cooker, heat oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add mustard and cumin seeds. Cook until they start to pop.
- Add curry leaves and onion. Mix, cook until translucent.
- Add tomato, ground spices, sambhar powder, turmeric and mix well. Cook until tomatoes are saucy.
- Add the tamarind, vegetables and peanuts and mix well.
- Drain the split peas and rice and add to the cooker. Add salt, sugar and 2 3/4 cup water. Close the lid and pressure cook for 1 whistle over medium heat, (2 minutes after the pressure indicator turns on), then reduce heat to low and cook for 15 mins((or cook for total 12 to 15 minutes on high pressure in Instant Pot or other pressure cooker). Let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid. Taste and adjust salt, spice, sour. Add lemon juice if needed. Garnish with cilantro and serve with papadums or crackers.
Notes
Nutrition
Sangeeta
Can the brown basmati be substituted with white? Is it a big difference in taste?
Thanks for all the wonderful dishes you prepare and you ideas are inspiring.
Richa
Use white. The problem is cooking with the dal which is going to take longer to cook, so white will be slightly overcooked. Soak the toot dal and pressure cook 8 mins
in2insight
This soup is both outstanding in its flavors and textures and super forgiving!
Ended up not having Toor Dal like I thought, so used Channa Dal instead, and while that no doubt changed things up a good bit, the end result was great tasting and fun to eat on a chilly evening.
Alamelu
Can’t wait to try! One suggestion. If you can bold or give the masala ingredients first or last it will be easy to follow. I am going to try in my IP tomorrow. Thankyou
KRS
Excellent recipe! I love using brown rice with this. Made this for my family and used carrots, indian green beans, and okra. Everyone enjoyed it!
Richa
Awesome!
KRed
This looks amazing! How long would you cook this for in an instant pot? Thanks
Richa
12 to 15 minutes on manual high pressure depending on the split peas and rice type used. Natural release
taya
Another A+ recipe! I left out the sambhar and tamarind but it still rocked 🙂
Vanessa
Thank you for this recipe! I loved it! Thanks for the substitution suggestions for the harder to find ingredients.
I want to try more Southern Indian recipes now!
Richa
Awesome!
Christie @ The Weekday Table
This looks incredible! A slow cooker must-try!
https://www.theweekdaytable.wordpress.com
Judy
This looks so good Richa. You mentioned it usually has curry leaves, I have some, when would you ad them and how many?
Thanks for all the great recipes…my husband asks “Is this from Richa?” whenever I make something beautifully spiced and flavored!
Richa
I use curry leaves in my recipe too, they are indispensable sometimes 🙂
they are added with the onions here.
Nell
Can I use curry leaf powder? When do I add and how much? I don’t have the leaves on hand thank you!
Vegan Richa Support
sure – just add with the onions 1/2 tsp
The Vegan 8
This looks incredible. Soup is the epitome of comfort food to me! Bet this smells divine too!!
moomoo
Would red lentils work here? If not, off to the store I go for pigeon peas or split yellow peas!
Richa
use brown lentils instead as they have similar cooking time as split peas. you can use red lentils, but they cook too quickly and will become a mush in the pressure cooker , unless you like them that way.
moomoo
Thanks! I just got dried curry leaves (I know, not as good as fresh) and am eager to use them. This comforting recipe is just the ticket!
IR
Bisi bele bath is soooo delicious, but very time consumung, although its well worth it =). Thank you for this easy recipe!