Beetroot Poriyal

It has been a rather busy month - workwise and also since we all were taking turns falling sick (inspite of the gorgeous weather we've been having). Haven't been able to post or blog hop much as a result but wanted to squeeze in this super simple recipe. Beetroots are usually not well received by my husband and I end up sneaking them in these vegetable cutlets, or in vegetable biryani or make burger patties with brown rice and beets. The only beet dish that he will eat as is, is when I make this beetroot halwa.... I plan to make this awesome chocolate cake from Sala's blog as another way to get beets in :) (hopefully someday soon)

Anyway I love beets and this poriyal is super tasty. I use a tip that I learnt from my aunt (K athai) where she peels the beets, after cutting of the ends and pressure cooks them before chopping them up. The beets are much softer and easier to chop and it also ensures that this poriyal only takes a few minutes since the beets are already fully cooked.

BEETROOT PORIYAL


Ingredients:
Beetroot - 2, washed, peeled and ends chopped
Shredded coconut (fresh or frozen) - 2 tbsp
Dried Red Chillies - 2 to 3, broken into 2 or 3 pcs each
Curry leaves - few (I didn't have any so skipped them)
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch

Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

1) Pressure cook beets (that are kept in a bowl with no additional water) for 1 whistle on high + plus about 7 to 10 mins on low flame. I use the same time as rice since I usually put this as a layer on top when pressure cooking rice.

2) When beets are cool enough to handle, chop them into cubes. If there's any water with the cooked beets, reserve them.

3) Heat the oil in a pan and season with mustard seeds and urad dhal, when mustard starts to splutter, add asafoetida, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Soon after add beets with any water that may remain in the cooking process and add salt to taste.

4) Stir this and cover for a few minutes so the flavours mingle. Remove the cover and allow to cook until all the water has evaporated.. this shouldn't take much time since there will be only 2-3 tbsp of liquid to start with.

5) Switch off the flame and stir in the shredded coconut. The poriyal is now ready to serve.