Beetroot Leaf (leaves) Salad

This is a delicious and fresh way to use beetroot leaves. Ever since we started growing beetroots, I have been able to have harvests of fresh leaves throughout the growing season. I used to use these in stir fries and curries. And then I ate this delicious salad at my friend K. J.'s house and I was hooked. I think if you have fresh, tender leaves, this is the most delicious way of enjoying them.

The dressing here is  heated oil which is seasoned, but if you don't have the seasoning ingredients, then just heat up the oil and pour it over.  Just the salt, sugar and lemon juice can be used as dressing. The peanuts add a crunchiness as well as some creamy texture. I love it as a salad ingredient. You can add whole roasted peanuts too instead of powdering them.

Here is a video on the salad preparation

Ingredients

10-15 beetroot leaves

2 tsp oil

1/8 tsp mustard seeds

1/8 tsp cumin seeds

pinch of asafoetida/hing

2 tbsp roasted peanut powder (or use whole roasted peanuts)

lemon juice, to taste

1/4 tsp sugar, to taste

salt to taste

Method

Wash the leaves thoroughly and chop them into bite sized pieces. Grind the peanuts into a coarse powder. You can also leave them whole. In a small pan, heat the oil and add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the hing and turn off the heat. Pour the oil over the leaves. Add the salt, sugar, lemon juice and peanut powder and toss well together. 

A delicious salad is ready to eat. 

Tips

Place wilted leaves in ice cold water for a 10 mins to perk them up to their original crispiness. If you want to add some spice, you can also add a finely cut chili into the oil after adding the hing. Let it cook for a minute before pouring the oil over the leaves. 

Coconut Beetroot Barfi (Coconut Beetroot Fudge)

My Mom and I were discussing various recipes that are made during the festive season and one of my favorites is coconut burfi or naral barfi. I told her I was planning to make that sometime soon and she suggested that I try adding some beetroot to make it colorful. I loved the idea and I decided to try it with golden beetroots. The end result was beautiful. The barfi turned out to absolutely golden and it tastes great. And I feel less guilty eating it because I know I am also eating a vegetable. This is a beautiful, delicious and healthier variation to the coconut barfi.

The recipe for the coconut barfi can be found here.

Ingredients
2 cups fresh coconut - grated/scraped (if using frozen, thaw it)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup beetroot - cooked and grated (see details in method)
1/8 tsp cardamom powder

Method

Cook the beetroot and then grate it. I usually do it in a pressure cooker

Heat the beetroot, coconut and sugar in a pan. Stir it and then add the milk. The sugar will melt and turn into syrup. As the mixture starts to thicken, add the cardamom powder. Stir frequently so that the mixture doesn't burn. Heat this mixture, till it is thick enough, so that when you move a spoon through it, you can see the base of the pan and till the mixture comes together. In the meanwhile, grease a tin or dish with some ghee or butter. Then pour the mixture in a greased pan. Use a spatula to spread this or you can use the base of a small bowl. Grease the base of the bowl with some ghee, so that the coconut mixture doesn't stick to the base. Once it has cooled down a little and is warm to touch, cut it into small squares.  Once it has completely cooled down, you can separate the squares. Store it in the fridge.

Tips

You can scrape/grate a coconut and freeze this in an airtight bag/box for about 6-8 weeks. After you scrape the coconut, heat it for a minute in the microwave or on the stove till you can smell the coconut aroma. Then cool it and freeze it. This helps preserve the coconut for a longer period.
When you cook the beetroot in the pressure cooker, just wash it and place it in the cooker. Remove the top and the root end and peel it after it is cooked.
If you use red beetroot (which I plan to use the next time), you will get a beautiful pink color.

Beet Root Halwa - Beet Root Pudding

I have eaten beet roots in a variety of preparations in both the raw and cooked form, including cooked curries, salads and raitas. However, I had never tasted a sweet made from beet root. A few weeks ago, I had gone to a local Indian restaurant and I got a serving of sweet with my order. It was something I had never eaten before. It had a dark purple, blackish color, and it looked like the main ingredient had been grated. I hesitated a little before tasting it and I am quite glad that I did, because it turned out to be delicious. It was sweet and had a caramelized taste. Unfortunately, I never did get a chance to ask the server what it was made of or what it was called. I kept pondering over this dish the entire evening and finally came to the conclusion that it was probably made from beet root. Well, luckily for me, I had a couple of beet roots in my refrigerator and I was able to carry out my experiment the very next day. And the conclusion was that the sweet I had was beet root halwa indeed and it is one of the most delicious ways to use beet root.

Ingredients
2 large beet roots, peeled and grated
2 tbsp  ghee/clarified butter
2 tbsp mava/khoa/khoya (optional)
1/4 cup roasted cashewnuts (optional)
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
4-5 tbsp sugar, adjust to taste
1 tbsp raisins

Method
In a pan, heat the ghee. To this add the grated beet root and stir. Cover the pan. Let the beet root cook completely till softened. Stir occasionally to ensure that the beet root is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Then add the mava (you can skip this), cardamom powder, raisins and sugar. The sugar will melt and the mixture will turn liquidy. Now, cook the mixture till the mixture solidifies. You can cook a little longer to let the sugar caramelize a little. Make sure that the halwa doesn't burn. Add cashews and serve warm. A healthy and tasty dessert which is fast to cook as well.

Tips
This is a faster cooking halwa compared to ones made carrots. Also, you can add some powdered milk instead of the mava to give it a creamy texture. I did not try adding milk or cream, and it wasn't needed either. To roast the cashews, in a pan, add a little ghee. Once heated, add the cahews and stir them, till they are a lightly browned. You can add more or lesser sugar based on how sweet the beet roots are as well as how many raisins are being added.

Beetroot Raita/Koshimbir (Dip)

This is a very easy side dish and a wonderful use of beetroot. The ingredients are simple but very nutritious and the taste absolutely delicious. Maharashtrians make many "koshimbirs/raitas" or dips. All of these are side salads which include include chopped vegetables and are generally dressed with yogurt sauce or even some tempered oil. Groundnut features as a prominent ingredient in many of these sides. Beetroot is a beautiful vegetable. It is rich in iron and has a bright red color. It is used as an ingredient in many natural dyes as well. And when it is mixed with yogurt, the dish gets a beautiful pink color and is as appealing to the eye as to the stomach.

Ingredients
1 beetroot
2 tsp groundnut/peanut powder  (take peanuts and grind them to a coarse powder)
salt to taste
chilli powder  to taste (optional)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup yogurt
water, as needed

For the tempering (optional)
1 tbsp oil
a pinch of mustard seeds
a pinch of cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida powder/hing
1 green chilli, slit through the center (optional)

Method
Cook the beetroot. I usually pressure cook it in my cooker and then peel it.  If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can also steam cook it till it is softened. The beetroot should be cooked through but not mushy, so take care not to over cook it. Let it cool, then peel it and cut it into bite sized pieces. Then mix in the groundnut powder, yogurt, sugar and salt. Mix well. If the yogurt is thick, then add a  little water to thin it out a bit. It should be sauce like in consistency. At this stage you can add some chilli powder if you want and can serve it without the tempering. The tempering adds a little spice to it. So, if you wish to add tempered oil, then heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds. Once you hear them crackle, add the asafoetida powder and the green chilli and turn off the heat. Let the chilli cook in the remnant heat and then pour this over the beetroot and yogurt mixture. Mix well. Serve as a side.

Tips
It is much easier to peel a cooked beetroot.  You can easily convert this to a dip by grating the beetroot instead of using diced pieces. You can also use ghee for the tempering instead of oil. To make the peanut powder, take about a cup of shelled peanuts and then pulse it in your blender, till you get a coarse powder. Stop at the stage while it is still in a powder form. If you process it more, you will end up with peanut butter.