OPOS Thinai/Foxtail millet bisibela bath

This is another gem among the OPOS recipe collection. Apart from being a tasty and quick recipe, this is also healthy as rice is substituted with millet here. Millets are rich in fibre making them an ideal substitute for rice. The best part is it tastes delicious and even hard core rice eaters will not complain as they taste just as good. I have started including millets in my dishes recently and I find them much more tasty and fullfilling than brown rice. This is such an easy recipe. You could make this bisi bela bath powder without the coconut and store it in the fridge for later use. If you already have the bisi bela bath powder ready, this recipe hardly takes any time or effort. And that’s the magic of using OPOS technique in everyday cooking. For those who are wondering what OPOS, I did a post sometime back talking about the OPOS cooking here- Beetroot halwa. For those who have no time to make the bisi bela bath powder, you could use store bought powder or just regular sambar powder in this recipe. If using Sambar powder, I would use just 2 tsp sambar powder. You will have yummy sambar rice ready in no time.

Ingredients for bisibelabath powder:

• 2 tbsp channa dal
• 2 tsp urad dhal
• 1/2 tsp pepper corns
• 6-7 dry red chillies
• 2 pieces 1inch cinammon
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 3 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 cup coconut grated
• 1 tsp ghee

Other ingredients:

• 1/2 cup thinai/ millet
• 1/2 cup cooked thoor dhal
• 3.5 cups water
• 11/2 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp jaggery
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 to 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• 1 cup vegetables ( carrot, beans, peas, pumpkin)
• 4 tbsp bisi bela bath powder
• 1 tsp ghee
• 10-12 cashews (optional)

Method:

First lets prepare the bisi bela bath powder. Add a tsp of ghee and roast all the ingredients mentioned above for the bisi bela bath powder (except coconut and turmeric)

Let them cool. Roast the coconut separately until they turn light golden brown in color. Now add all the roasted spices along with the coconut, turmeric and grind it to a somewhat smooth powder. Set it aside.

In a 3 litre pressure cooker, add the other ingredients mentioned (millet, cooked dhal, water, tamarind paste, curry leaves, coriander, ghee, salt, jaggery, vegetables and bisi bela bath powder)

Close the lid with weight and cook in high flame for 4 to 5 whistles.

Let the pressure settle down by itself. Open when the pressure is released and roast the cashews in ghee and serve the bisibela bath bath hot, topped with the ghee roasted cashews.

Note:

If using rice, instead of millets soak the rice in hot water for 20 to 25 minutes.

If you do not have cooked toor dhal, you can use toor dal soaked in hot water for 20-25 minutes. The longer they are soaked, the mushier they become.