Toor Masale Bhat

Once in a while my Dad surprises me by making dinner on days when I have spent a long day at work. He had bought some Toorichya shenga that looked really fresh. We normally make toor curry with ground coconut masala. The Toor when separated from the pods looked like peas so he decided to make masale bhat with it. The toor rice turned out so fluffy and nice that I feasted on it. The red and green chillies he used were just to add color to the picture as He now watches me taking pictures for the blog. I wanted to take a picture of the toorichya shenga but dinner was ready when I reached home and the waste pods were in the dustbin. Ambe mohar rice is the best rice for masale bhat. This variety of rice is small grained and smells like ripe mangoes when cooked. We used long grained rice on this day as you see in the picture.

Ingredients

1 cup rice

1 cup toor

4-5 red chilies / green chillies slit with stem intact

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder

2 pinches asofeotida

1/2 cup curds

1 cup water

1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut

1 tablespoon cilantro

1 tablespoon oil

salt to taste

Masala for 1 cup rice:

2 cloves

3-4 black peppercons

2 small sticks cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 cardamom pods

1 teaspoon Coriander seeds

Grind together all items. No roasting required. Traditional maharashtrian masale bhat powder is not roasted this gives the lovely flavor and smell.

To begin heat oil in a small pressure cooker add turmeric, chilli powder, asofeotida, Masale bhat powder stir for a min and sprinkle water on the seasoning to allow the flavors to come out. Add the toor and stir. Wash rice and mix into the seasoning. Add the curds and mix. Next add water and salt before you close the cooker. Pressure cook and allow only one whistle. Let steam subside and open cooker while still hot else rice will become soft. Do you smell the heavenly aroma?

Now remove all the rice on a platter and make it fluffy by using a fork to separate the grains and garnish with coconut and cilantro.