Khara Bath is a spicy semolina dish from the state of Karnataka. It is a specialty served at restaurants in Bangalore and goes fantastic with a cup of filter coffee.
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What is Khara Bath?
Khara Bath or Baath is a rava/suji based breakfast dish from the state of Karnataka. Khara, the word means spicy in the Kannada language.
It is a variety of upma or upittu prepared with a spice powder, usually a rasam powder, sambar powder or bisi bele bath powder. The difference between upma and khara bath is just in the use of the spice powder.
Khara bath is usually served with coconut chutney as a side dish, but I think it tastes fantastic on its own.
Nowadays, at local restaurants in Bengaluru, you might see the name Khara bath on the menu, but when you get a plate of the food, it almost always turns out to be a white Upma. It is best to ask at the cashier or the food delivery counter if it is upma or khara bath.
Khara bath and Kesari bath is a beautiful combination served as Chow Chow bath in local restaurants like MTR or Upahara Darshini in Bengaluru. One small scoop of each served with a side of chutney and hot filter coffee on the side is a perfect start to a cold winter morning in Bengaluru.
Ingredients to make Khara bath
Sooji or Rava or Indian semolina is the main ingredient in preparing Khara bath. Rava is finely crushed wheat kernels but with less of the bran. That’s why it appears almost white.
Spice powder – I almost alwasys use Rasam powder (and specifically my athai’s rasam powder since it has a bright colour and slightly less spicy that store-bought rasam powder). You may also use sambar powder or bisi bele bath powder for the “khara” part of the dish.
Dals – Channa dal and cashew nuts are the main dals I use. But you can keep it just to channa dal as well.
Vegetables and herbs – You can use green chillies, curry leaves, finely chopped onions for a simpler version of the dish. You can also choose to add finely cubed pieces of carrots, potatoes and beans to add bulk to the dish.
For the final garnish, use lemon juice and finely chop coriander leaves.
Upma does absorb oil, so in this recipe, I’ve used two tablespoons. This is sufficient for 100g of rava. But you can use more oil if you wish – this will lead to a better texture if you are not fond of the usual upma texture. I use gingelly oil for most cooking, but you can choose to use sunflower oil, groundnut oil or even ghee too.
I prefer to use hot water over room temperature water since this speeds up the cooking process. So, please boil enough water before you begin.
How to make Khara Bath at home?
Prep Work
The first step is to boil enough water and keep it ready. For every measure of rava, you will require three times the measure of hot water. In this recipe, I have used 100g of rava, so I’ve boiled about a half a litre of water in the kettle.
Measure out the rava and keep aside.
Chop the green chillies, onions and, if using, any vegetables that you might be adding to the bath.
The preparation
Place a sufficiently large kadai on a medium flame. You will need it because the quantity of the dish always doubles when you cook sooji.
Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the pan. Once the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds and channa dal. Roast for 10 seconds and then follow it up with cashew nuts. Roast the nuts in the oil until slightly brown. You can also choose to add the cashew nuts to the end by roasting them separately at the end to retain the crispness.
Next, add the curry leaves, chopped green chillies and onions. Saute them until they turn soft.
[If you are adding vegetables, add them now. Sprinkle a little salt on top of the vegetables, add 1/4 cup of water and steam the vegetables until they are soft (this should take 5-6 six minutes depending on the size of the vegetable. You can cut them all in equal size to ensure they cook evenly). ]
Now, you can add the rava. This step is very important. Roasting the rava in this oil along with the spices will coat the rava and prevent it from clumping up when you add water. Roast the rava for at least 2 minutes.
Lower the flame to the lowest setting and you can now add the hot water slowly to the kadai. While adding the water, mix the water and rava together by swirling them together. This will prevent the rava from forming lumps.
Make sure to always have extra hot water handy. Some varieties of rava absorb more water than some.
When the rava is almost cooked (you will see only a few white spots of rava granules), you should close the lid to the kadai and turn off the heat. Let the rava cook in the steam heat for five minutes.
When you open the lid after ten minutes, all the rava would’ve cooked. If you notice any uncooked rava, turn on the flame to the lowest setting, add a little more hot water and keep stirring.
Drizzle with lemon juice and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. If you have kept aside roasted cashew nuts, garnish them on top as well.
Serve Khara Bath with a dollop of ghee on top of it with a side green coconut chutney and hot filter coffee.
Shelf Life and Storage
Khara bath is best served hot and piping off the kadai. But it does taste better over the next few hours because the rava would have had a chance to absorb all the spices in. So, if you want to carry tiffin to office for the 5 PM hunger, this dish is the best option for dabba.
You can store Khara bath on the countertop for half a day, nothing will happen to it. But if you live in a place with warm weather throughout the year, best to put it in the fridge for a couple of days.
If you plan to store in the fridge, keep it out of 10-15 minutes before reheating it. Add a teaspoon of oil to a pan and add the upma and mix it thoroughly. Do not reheat it or store it in the fridge again.
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Recipe
Khara Bath
Ingredients
- 100 g Rava ½ cup
- 300-500 ml Hot Water
- 2-3 tbsp Cooking oil
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- ½ tsp Channa Dal
- 1 tbsp Cashew Nuts
- 2 sprigs Curry Leaves
- 1-2 Green chillies finely sliced
- 1 Onion small, diced small
- ½ cup Vegetables (if using)
- 1 tbsp Rasam powder or sambar/ bisi bele bath powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
Instructions
Prep Work
- Boil half a litre of water in a kettle or on the stove and keep aside.
- Chop the green chillies and onions. Keep the curry leaves ready.
- Finely chop the coriander leaves, cut the lemon and remove seeds.
The preparation
- Place a kadai on low-medium heat and add the cooking oil. Once the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Next, add the channa dal and cashew nuts. Roast the nuts until slightly brown.
- Next, add the green chillies, curry leaves and onions. Saute until the onions are soft. If you are adding vegetables, add them now and allow them to steam cook with 1/4 cup of water.
- Now, you can add the rava and mix it along with the rest of the ingredients. Let the oil coat the rava well. If you feel like it, add in a little more oil.
- Once the rava is roasted, lower the flame to the lowest setting and pour in the hot water slowly while stirring the water and rava together. Make small swirls in the water, so that the rava gets mixed well. The ratio of 1 measure of rava : 3 measures of water works well. But if you feel that the rava has absorbed the water fast, you can add in more water.
- When you see the rava bubbling and it has mostly cooked, turn off the flame and close the kadai with a lid. This will help with steam cooking. Let it be for a minimum of five minutes.
- Lift the lid and make sure all the granules of rava are cooked. If not, add a little more water, switch on the flame to a low setting and allow it to cook for some more time.
- Garnish the Khara bath with coriander leaves and a generous drizzle of lemon juice. For added crunch, you can roast a few cashewnuts in some ghee on the side and pour them over the khara bath.
- Serve Khara Bath with a dollop of ghee on top with green coconut chutney and a hot filter coffee.
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