Oats-bela-bath

As a follow up to my previous post on eating oats, I’ve had an epiphany.
I tried to make oats, well, ‘differently’.
There is a south indian dish, made with rice, lentils, vegetables and spices, called bisibelabath.
Only  this time, i substituted the rice with oats. Surprisingly, i loved it.
I’m planning on having this for lunch thrice a week now.

Oats-bela-bath Serves 1 person

You’ll be needing

– Oats, 1 cup. Slightly toast it (no oil) till it starts smelling good.
– Onions, 1 large, chopped.
– 1 tomato, large, chopped.
– A handful of toor dhal. Soak for a few minutes.
– Turmeric powder, a pinch.
– Red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp
– Sambar powder, 1 tsp
– Cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp
– Garlic, one large clove, peeled.
– A tiny piece of tamarind, approx the size of a marble.
– Fenugreek seeds, a pinch (optional)
– A handful of vegetables of your choice, chopped. I used carrots and capsicum chopped
– A few curry leaves ,1/4 tsp of mustard seeds and 1 tsp of urad dhal for tadka
– 1 tsp of oil
– Coriander leaves, chopped, for garnishing

Method

– In a pressure cooker, boil some water till you see tiny bubbles, add the soaking lentils, turmeric powder, chilli powder, chopped tomatoes, onions, half of the cumin seeds, garlic, vegetables (carrots and vegetables with longer cooking time) and fenugreek seeds. Pressure cook on high flame till you hear 2-3 whistles, or until the lentils and vegetables are cooked completely.

– Add the oats, rest of the vegetables (if any), sambar powder, water, if it looks too dry, and pressure cook again on a low flame for 5 minutes.

– In a pan, heat the oil, add the mustard seeds till it pops, then add the remaining cumin seeds,  urad dhal and curry leaves, and saute till the ural dhal turns light brown.

– Add the tamarind paste, the contents of the pressure cooker, salt to taste, and stir around till the tamarind juices are absorbed.

– Adjust seasoning if needed. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.

This can be eaten together with a potato curry, or any vegetable curry, or simply with some appalam/paapad.