Oats Bisi Bele Bath

Ingredients

• 1 cup (90 g) rolled oats
• ½ cup (100 g) toor dal, rinsed and soaked 30 minutes
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 1 small carrot (50 g), diced
• ¼ cup (35 g) green peas
• 8 French beans (40 g), cut into 2 cm pieces
• ½ small capsicum (50 g), diced
• 6 to 8 small onions or 1 medium onion (80 g), quartered
• 1 medium tomato (100 g), chopped
• 1 tbsp (20 g) tamarind paste, or a lemon-sized ball soaked in ½ cup warm water
• 2½ tbsp bisi bele bath powder (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 tsp (5 g) grated jaggery
• Salt, to taste (about 1 tsp)
• 4 cups (960 ml) water, plus more to adjust
• 2 tbsp (28 g) ghee
• 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 dried red chilli, a pinch of hing
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 10 cashews (15 g)

Method

1. 1Pressure cook the soaked toor dal with turmeric and 1½ cups of the water for 4 whistles on medium heat. Let the pressure release, then mash the dal until smooth.
2. 2While the dal cooks, dry roast the oats in a heavy pan on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until they smell nutty and look a shade darker. Tip them onto a plate.
3. 3In a deep pot, bring 1½ cups water to a boil. Add the carrot, peas, beans, capsicum and onions with a pinch of salt and simmer 6 to 7 minutes until a knife slides through the carrot.
4. 4Add the tomato, tamarind, bisi bele bath powder, jaggery and remaining salt. Simmer 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat until the raw tamarind smell is gone.
5. 5Stir in the mashed dal and the remaining 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Add the roasted oats, stirring constantly so no lumps form, and cook on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes until thick but still pourable.
6. 6In a small pan, heat the ghee on medium. Fry the cashews until golden, then add mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves and hing; let them crackle for 10 seconds.
7. 7Pour the tadka over the pot and stir through. The texture should drop slowly off a ladle; add hot water a few spoons at a time if it has gone stiff. Serve hot.