Oats Bisibelabath

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Onion Shallots (Pearl Onions) - 6

Oats - 1 cup

Thuvar Dal - 1/2 cup, cooked and mashed

Tamarind - 1 small lemon size or 1 tbspn 

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Carrot - 1, chopped  

Tomato - 2, chopped

Beans - 10, chopped

Drumstick - 1 

Green Peas - 2 tbspns

Salt - as per taste

Cashews - 5

For the Bisibelabath Powder:

Channa Dal - 2 tsps

Coriander Seeds - 1 tbspn

Red Chilies - 3, medium (add more according to taste)

Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Cardamom - 1

Cinnamon stick - 1

Cloves - 2

Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup

Ghee / Cooking oil - 2 tsps

For Seasoning;

Ghee / Cooking oil - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds  - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Method:

Cook the vegetables(the vegetables should be crunchy) and dal separately in the pressure cooker except the onions and tomatoes.  

Soak the tamarind in the water and take the tamarind extract. If you are using the ready made tamarind paste, mix a tbspn of extract in a cup of water.

Heat the pan and fry the oats for 2 minutes in a low to medium flame. You will get a nice aroma while frying the oats. Keep it separate. Add one tsp of ghee/cooking oil to fry the cashew. Fry the cashew till it turns golden brown and keep it aside. 

For the Bisibelabath Powder;

Add 2 tsps of oil or ghee in the frying pan. Once the oil/ghee gets heated, add channa dal, coriander seeds, pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick and red chili. Fry till the color changes to light brown. Add the red chili in the last as it will get burnt quickly. Add the coconut and continue frying till you get a nice aroma from the coconut and the color changes to light brown. It is important that the flame is kept medium and you fry frequently so that the mixture don't get burnt. Switch off the flame and allow this mixture to cool.

Once the mixture is cool, take it to the mixture (blender) and grind it to a fine powder. 

Heat the pan and add oil or ghee. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds starts to sputter, add curry leaves and fry for 10 seconds. Add the shallots and continue frying for about a minute. Now add the chopped tomatoes and continue frying for about one to two minutes. Also add a pinch of turmeric while frying. Add the tamarind extract and allow the mixture to boil for 5 minutes till the raw smell of tamarind goes off.

Then add the salt and the cooked vegetables and mix well and keep in flame for 2 minutes. Next add mashed dal and stir well. Keep the flame low and allow the mixture to boil. Make sure to stir occasionally to avoid dal sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Add the Bisibelabath Powder and mix well to avoid lumps. Let the mixture boil in low flame for about 5 mins. Add a cup of water and when the mixture starts to boil, add oats and mix well and keep the flame low and close the pan with a lid and allow it to cook.

In about 2 minutes the oats will cook completely. At this stage add 1 tbspn of ghee and mix well. Also add the fried cashew. 

Serve hot with Cucumber or onion raitha also with potato chips and papad!

Inspired from here