Bisi bele bath recipe (stovetop & Instant pot options). Also known as Bisi Bele huli anna, it is one of the traditional Karnataka recipes that is prepared in most Kannada speaking homes. The authentic recipe is a no onion and no garlic recipe, as it is a popular and special dish among the vegetarians who do not eat onions and garlic. The authentic bisi bele bath recipe does not call for onions, instead fresh coconut or poppy seeds or dried coconut is used.

Bisi bele bath is also very popular in the Hotels & Tiffin centers of Karnataka. It is served in almost every vegetarian restaurant. Vangi bath & Tomato bath are also as much popular as this one.
What is bisi bele bath?
Bisi bele bath is a popular dish made with rice, lentils, mix veggies & a special spice powder known as bisi bele bath powder.
Bisi in Kannada translates to hot (temperature), bele translates to lentils & bath is a gooey dish. It is also known as bisi bele huli anna in some parts of Karnataka. Huli means sour and anna is rice.
Bisi bele bath is dal and rice cooked together with tamarind and spice powders. As the name suggests it has to be served hot. It tastes best when seasoned in ghee and served piping hot.
There are many modern versions of bisi bele bath. I am sharing the recipe I got from our Hassan based home cook. I have been cooking this for years now and has always turned out to be the best. This recipe yields bisi bele bath that tastes almost the same served in MTR.
Preparation to make bisi bele bath
1. I prefer to cook rice in pressure cooker. If you do not have a pressure cooker, cook rice and dal together or separately until the dal turns completely mushy. If using pressure cooker, rinse ¾ cup rice in a bowl. Then pour 1 & ¾ cup water. Place this bowl inside your cooker.

2. I cover the rice bowl with a plate. Then pour ½ cup toor dal to another bowl. Rinse well a few times and pour 1 cup water. Cover the dal as well. Pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles on a medium flame. Both rice and dal must be soft and fully cooked.

Make bisibelebath powder
Skip this section if using MTR powder. These proportions work great hence I suggest sticking on to the quantity mentioned. These spices and lentils have to be roasted on a medium to low flame to get a deep color without burning. This gives a good color to the final dish.
3. While the rice cooks, Make the bisi bele bath powder. On a low flame, dry roast 1 teaspoon chana dal, 1 teaspoon urad dal & 4 red chilies (low heat variety) until dal turns golden.
Then add 1½ tablespoons coriander seeds, 1 inch cinnamon, 2 cloves & 1 marati moggu (optional). When they turn aromatic remove to a plate.
Add 1 pinch methi seeds & fry. When they turn aromatic, add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 tablespoon dried coconut (optional). Roast these until aromatic and turn off.

4. Cool them completely and add to a grinder jar.

5. Make a fine powder. Your bisi bele bath powder is ready. Set this aside. You can also make this in advance and store in a air tight jar for about a month.

using the powder
6. Soak 3 tablespoons tamarind in half cup hot water. Set this aside to cool and prepare the vegetables.

7. Squeeze the soaked tamarind and extract the tamarind water. Keep 2 to 3 tbsps of this aside little. In case we need more it can be used later. Add ½ teaspoon salt, 1½ teaspoons jaggery and stir well until the jaggery dissolves. I prefer to filter it to a bowl to remove debris from tamarind or jaggery.

8. Add the ground bisi bele bath masala powder and mix well. Set this aside. Adding the dry powder directly to the pan usually ends up in lot of lumps. So I mix it well with the jaggery and tamarind water then pour it.

9. When the rice and dal are cooked. Mash the dal well. This gives a creamy & nice texture to the bisi bele bath.

10. This step is optional. Mix together rice and dal. Set aside.

How to make bisi bele bath
11. Add 1 teaspoon ghee or oil to a hot pan. When the ghee turns hot, add
- 8 shallots (or 1 medium cubed onion)
- ½ cup chopped carrots
- 4 french beans chopped to 1 inch
- ¼ cup chopped capsicum
- ¼ cup green peas. Then fry all of them on a medium high flame together for 3 to 4 minutes until the raw flavors goes off.

12. Pour 1 cup water to the pan and cook till the veggies are just done. Do not over cook, keep them slightly crunchy.

13. Pour the tamarind jaggery mixture to the pan.

14. Allow the entire mixture to boil for a while to bring out the flavors from the spice powders.

15. Then add the rice & dal to the pan.

16. Add 1 ¼ cup water to the pan. Stir and mix everything well. Taste test this and add more salt, bisibelebath powder, jaggery or tamarind as needed. Simmer on a low flame until slightly thick yet of pouring consistency. This is the right consistency of bisibelebath.

Tempering
17. Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a pan. Add 10 cashews, 1 broken dried red chili, ½ teaspoon mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to splutter, add 1 sprig curry leaves and 1 pinch of hing.

19. Pour this to the cooked rice dal and stir. Karnataka style bisibelebath is ready. As the name says bisi – meaning hot, this has to be served hot. It will thicken upon cooling, so to adjust the consistency you can pour some hot water.

Usually bisi bele bath is served hot with papads and a generous amount of ghee topped.

Tips to make the best bisi bele bath
1.To make bisi bele bath, you can use store bought powder or make your own. MTR brand works the best. I am also sharing an easy bisi bele bath powder recipe that smells great and is aromatic to give that authentic touch.
You can also make this powder good enough for a month or two by following this bisibelebath powder recipe.
2.Rice and dal can be cooked together or separately. I like to make my dal mushy but not the rice, so i cook the rice grainy but fully cooked.
I also cook them separately so that the rice doesn’t get mushy but the dal is cooked to smooth which gives the creamy & smooth taste to the bisi bele bath. If you like to have both mushy, then you can cook rice and dal together.
3.Bisi bele bath is one of those special vegetarian dishes which is made even on occasions like festivals or when we have guests home. If you are making it for a crowd prepare the bisibelebath powder 1 day ahead. Make the dish very gooey as it thickens over time.
4. If it turns too thick after few hours. Then bring some water to a rolling boil, then add 1 tbsp ghee to it. Pour this to the bisi bele bath and stir. If needed heat it. This helps to bring the dish to right consistency. Avoid pouring cold water.
For more karnataka recipes you can check :
Akki roti
Neer dosa
Ragi mudde
Set dosa
Mysore bonda
Instant Pot

I have shared 2 methods for the instant pot version & both have been tested in a 6 Qt IP. I have tried making bisi bele bath several times in the instant pot following the one pot method shared in the recipe card. But the taste and texture is not the same as of the original dish. So I have shared a different method here below which comes close to the stovetop version.
Instructions
- Soak tamarind in little hot water.
- Add rice, dal and 4 cups of water to the inner pot of the Instant pot.
- Secure the instant pot with the lid. Position the steam release handle to sealing.
- Press PRESSURE COOK OR MANUAL button and set the timer to 8 minutes.
- Once the IP beeps, press cancel and turn off. Wait for natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Then release the rest of the pressure manually.
- Meanwhile in a different pan heat ghee and fry cashews until golden. Remove and set aside.
- Add mustard, red chilies, curry leaves and hing. When the mustard pops, add onions and fry for 2 mins.
- Then add all the veggies and stir fry for a minute.
- Add bisi bele bath powder, salt, tamarind water & jaggery. Pour 1.5 cups water and mix well.
- Boil all of this until the veggies are slightly tender.
- When the pressure releases open the Instant pot lid and pour all of the veggies along with water. Stir well. Press SAUTE button and simmer for 2 mins until thick. If needed you can pour another half cup hot water if it is too thick.
- Taste and add more salt and ghee. Sprinkle coriander leaves. Garnish with cashews and serve bisi bele bath hot.
Related Recipes

Bisi bele bath recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
bisi bele bath powder or use 2 to 3 tbsps MTR powder
- 4 red chilli
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon urad dal (skinned black gram)
- 1 teaspoon chana dal (bengal gram)
- 2 pinches fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
- 1 ½ tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 small marati moggu (optional)
- 1 tablespoon dried coconut (optional) or poppy seeds
for bisi bele bath
- ¾ cup rice rinsed well
- ½ cup toor dal or split pigeon peas (rinsed well)
- 1 small lemon sized tamarind ball (adjust to taste, about 3 tbsps)
- 1 ½ teaspoon jaggery (adjust to taste)
- ½ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- 1 teaspoon ghee
Vegetables
- ½ cup carrots diced
- ¼ cup green peas
- 5 french beans or ¼ cup avarekalu
- 8 shallots (or 1 medium onion) (optional)
- ¼ cup capsicum cubed (optional)
Tempering
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 10 cashews broken
- 1 Pinch asafoetida or hing
- ½ teaspoon mustard
- 1 red chili broken (deseeded)
Instructions
Making bisi bele bath powder (or use MTR powder)
- You can skip this section and just use ready made bisi bele bath. On a low flame dry roast red chilies, chana dal & urad dal until golden.
- Then fry coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon & moggu. When they turn aromatic remove to a plate.
- Add methi seeds & roast. When the seeds turn aromatic, add in cumin and coconut.
- Next when these turn aromatic turn off and cool all the ingredients. Make a fine powder & set aside.
Preparation
- Add rice to a bowl and rinse it well a few times. In a separate bowl wash dal a few times.
- Pour 1¾ cups water to the rice bowl & 1 cup water to the dal bowl.
- Pressure cook both of them in a cooker in pot-in-pot method for 3 to 4 whistles. The rice and dal must be cooked soft.
- While the rice & dal cooks, soak tamarind in half cup hot water. Squeeze it and filter to a bowl. Keep 2 to 3 tablespoons of this aside for later use.
- To the remaining tamarind water, add the bisi bele bath powder, jaggery & salt. Mix well to remove lumps. Set aside.
- Mash the dal to smooth and add to rice. If desired can mash rice as well.
How to make bisi bele bath
- Heat a pan with 1 teaspoon ghee & add the vegetables.
- On a medium high flame saute for 3 to 4 mins to bring out the flavors.
- Pour 1 cup of water and cook the veggies till they are ¾ done. This way they retain the crunchiness.
- Pour the tamarind mix and stir well. Allow it to boil for few minutes.
- Add the mashed rice dal and mix well. Next add ¾ to 1 ¼ cups water and stir well.
- Let the rice come to a boil on a medium flame. This takes around 4 to 6 mins.
- Cook till the rice reaches a desired thick consistency. Taste test this. If needed, add more tamarind water, salt and jaggery.
- Bisi bele bath usually turns thick upon cooling so remove it a bit early.
Tempering
- Heat 1 tablespoon ghee or oil in a small pan.
- Add cashews and fry them until light golden. Then add mustard and red chilli.
- When the mustard splutters, add curry leaves. When the leaves turn crisp, add hing.
- Pour the seasoning over the bisi bele bath. Top bisi bele bath with a generous amount of ghee before serving. It is served hot with papad.
Instant pot bisi bele bath
- Soak tamarind in half cup hot water.
- Press saute button on the instant pot and pour ghee or oil to the inner pot of the Ip.
- Then fry cashews until golden and set aside.
- Add mustard, red chilies, curry leaves and hing.
- When the mustard pops, add onions and fry for 2 mins.
- Then add all the veggies and stir fry for a minute. Add bisi bele bath powder, salt, half of the tamarind water & jaggery. (I usually mix the jaggery with tamarind water and filter both together)
- Mix well and pour 7 cups water. Add rice and dal. Stir well and scrub the bottom to deglaze.
- Press cancel button. Secure the instant pot with the lid. Position the steam release handle to sealing.
- Then press pressure cook button and set the timer to 9 minutes. Once the IP beeps, press cancel and turn off.
- Wait for natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Then release the rest of the pressure manually. Open the lid and stir well. Taste test and add more tamarind water, salt and jaggery is needed.
- Add additional ghee and sprinkle coriander leaves. If desired you can also make a fresh tadka and pour on the bisi bele bath.
Notes
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes


Shradha Agarwalla says
Followed your recipe it turned out superb! Thanks for the detailed instructions, it is a keeper!!!
swasthi says
You are welcome Shradha
MKR says
I find authentic Bisi Bele Bath reduced blood sugar. I found since I am on insulin five times a day and every time I ate BBB, next reading was low. One another family member also noticed it. In addition, I lost weight and I had swelling of feet due to bad circulation from aging and the swelling went away. My son who is in 30s had premature greying of hair even though no one had early grey hair and after a couple of months of eating BBB greying went away. Every noticed that BBB cuts your hunger. I am yet to find a formal study of the above effects. While it is anecdotal, you have to try it yourself and see if it helps you. Since Mysore where BBB was invented, has the oldest ayurvedic college India, surely the BBB was developed by those who had good knowledge of the beneficial effect of spices.
swasthi says
Hi Sir
Thank you so much for sharing your experience
Sailaja says
Tried yesterday at home, everyone loved it. Thanks for the recipe
swasthi says
Welcome Sailaja
Seerhalakshmi says
Prepared it today for potluck and everyone loved it.
Thanks.
swasthi says
Welcome Lakshmi
Thanks for the comment. Glad to know it came out good.
Padmini says
If we use MTR bisibele bath powder , how much of it should be added?
swasthi says
Hi Padmini,
You can use about 2 to 3 tbsp mtr powder. Please check the spice level and use to suit your taste. MTR bisi bele bath powder sold in all countries is not same.
Nishad says
Turned out authentic and original taste luv d recipe thnx for uploading this
swasthi says
Welcome Nishad
Thanks for trying
Mrs Shwetha says
Thank you.. It was easy and yummy.. My son loved it?
Deepthi says
OMG!! Such an easy and tasty recipe.The first time itself I tried it, turned out amazing?
Thank you so much for posting this recipe?
swasthi says
You are welcome Deepthi,
Thanks for trying. Glad it turned out good.
🙂
Priya says
Awesome
swasthi says
Thanks Priya
NP says
What is the quantity of Bisi Bele powder to be used for the rice recipe mentioned above?
swasthi says
Hi,
I have given the ingredients in recipe card to make the powder. You have to use the entire powder made. If using MTR powder you can use about 2 to 3 tbsp. But MTR is very hot, so do adjust to suit your taste.
NP says
Thank you for your reply. Love your recipes. Simple and authentic!
swasthi says
Welcome and thanks Np
Sreelatha says
If we use MTR powder or other bisibele powder it’s not mentioned how much to use. I used 2 tbsp for 1 cup rice. Vegs used were beans carrots capsicum brinjal and lauki ,onion and shallots. The result was awesome. Thanks a ton for the method and recipe
swasthi says
You are welcome Sreelatha,
Glad to know you liked it.
I did mention the quantity of mtr powder in one of the comments below but forgot to update in the post. Thanks for the mention I will update it
Dr. Vaishnavi jhala says
Hi.. my husband used to say that he liked bisibele bhath very much but i haven’t tasted it before however i wanted to cook for him I am a beginner.. know very much less about cooking but when i made it he said “perfect authentic☺ it is just like i tasted for the first time in south india”☺
Thank u very much for sharing recipe??
swasthi says
Welcome Dr. Vaishnavi,
Very glad to know it turned out good. Thanks a lot for the comment. It really made me very happy!!
🙂
Vijaya says
Hi Swasthi,
I tried your bisibelebath recipe..it really came out good…Thank you.
swasthi says
Welcome Vijaya
Thanks for the comment.
Hiral says
Thanks swasthi for the excellent recipe. Bisibelle rice came out very tasty.
swasthi says
Welcome Hiral
Happy to know you bisi bele bath turned out good
Anand Babu says
Now I have started let me tell the result in one hour
swasthi says
I am sure it would have turned out good. Thanks for trying
Robert Samson says
Ms. Swathi,
Your recipe is excellent.
Only problem was with rice quantity for my family.
I decreased rice by 1/4th your recipe after my first tryout. Really went well.
Can add brinjals instead of capsicum.
Thanks
A Deivanayaki says
Very useful
MKR says
It is a great food which reduced blood sugar in Diabetics. Try it your self and see. Many are now daily eating it.
VAIJAYANTHI says
It turned out very well. My guests appreciated it very much. Kept remembering it for almost a month. Thanks for the great recipe.
Indu says
??Superb???
Meghana C says
Thank u & Great recipe swasthi