Friday 23 December 2016

Beetroot Potato Curry

It is a nutrient packed vegetable that attracts even the fussy eaters and kids because of its colour and taste.

Beetroot improves stamina and blood flow and lowers blood pressure. It is sweet and earthy in taste and tender to eat. It is beneficial for high blood pressure patients as beetroots helps to lower blood pressure. Such patients can consume the beet root juice apart from other recipes of beetroot.



INGREDIENTS :

(1) 2 medium sized Beetroots, diced into bite sized pieces
(2) 3 small sized potatoes, chopped into bite sized pieces
(3) 2 large sized Onions, finely chopped
(4) 2 medium sized Tomatoes, finely chopped
(5) 5 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
(6) Half inch of Ginger piece, finely chopped
(7) Coriander leaves, finely chopped (for garnish)
(8) Curry leaves
(9) 5 - 8 Whole Red Chillies, (depending on the spicy taste required
Use less if don’t like too spicy. The beetroots cause the sabzi to be sweet
so to cut that taste, we put little more red chillies)
(10) 3 tablespoon of Vegetable oil
(11) 1 teaspoon of Saunf / Fennel seeds
(12) 3/4 teaspoon of Jeera / Cumin seeds
(13) 1/2 teaspoon of Rai / Mustard seeds
(14) 1/2 teaspoon of Garam masala powder
(15) 1 teaspoon of Coriander / Dhania powder 
(16) 1/2 teaspoon of Cumin / Jeera powder
(17) 1/4 teaspoon of Haldi / Turmeric powder
(18) 2 pinch of Hing / Asafoetida
(19) Salt to taste
(20) Water for cooking

Cuisine : Indian
Serves : 5-6 persons

PREPARATION :

(1) Peel the skin of the Potatoes, wash them, then cut them into bite sized pieces. Put the chopped potatoes into a utensil, add 2 glasses of water, little amount of salt and keep on the gas stove for cooking.
The Potatoes should be cooked, but they should not lose their shape, that is should not get soggy. Once cooked, turn off the gas stove. Drain the water and take the cooked potatoes into a bowl and keep aside as shown in the image.


(2) Peel the Beetroots and wash them. Then cut them into small bite sized pieces. Put the diced beetroot into a utensil, put 2 glasses of water, a little amount of salt and keep on the gas stove for cooking. Once the beetroots are cooked, turn off the gas stove. Press one piece of beetroot and if it breaks and is soft (but at the same time should not lose shape), then it means the beetroot is cooked. Take the beetroot along with the water used for cooking into a bowl and keep aside. 








(3) Peel the Onions and chop them finely using an Onion chopper. Keep the finely chopped Onions into a bowl and keep aside.



(4) Wash and finely chop two medium sized Tomatoes.


Chopped Tomatoes


(5) Finely chop or grate 5 cloves of Garlic and half inch of Ginger and keep aside. 

5 cloves of garlic finely chopped

Half inch sized ginger finely chopped

(6) Chop Coriander leaves for garnish and keep aside.

Coriander leaves finely chopped

Curry leaves

(7) All ingredients set together in a tray for the preparation of Beetroot Potato Curry.



From left to right, top to bottom rows, the ingredients are : 
Fennel seeds / Saunf, Cumin seeds / Jeera, Mustard seeds / Rai,
Garam masala powder, Coriander / Dhania powder, Cumin / Jeera powder, 
Turmeric powder / Haldi, Salt and Asafoetida / Hing powder.


METHOD :

(1) Heat 3 tablespoon of oil in a Kadhai / Wok. 
Add Mustard seeds / Rai to the warm oil and when they start spluttering, add Jeera / Cumin seeds. After 10 seconds of sautéing, 
add finely chopped garlic and ginger. Saute them till the garlic turns golden brown in colour and the raw smell of the ginger goes away. Add 5-8 whole red chillies and sauté them for 10 seconds. 








(2) Add finely chopped Onions and sauté till they turn light golden in colour. 




(3) Add finely chopped Tomatoes and sauté till they become soft.




Note : While preparing this recipe my little baby was playing in the kitchen around me and trying to come near the gas stove, so I got little distracted and did not put the Fennel seeds and Curry leaves in step 1, which I realized at step 3 of method.  For my readers, please add the Fennel seeds and Curry leaves along with Cumin seeds / Jeera and sauté for 10 seconds as said earlier.

I took a tempering ladle and added 2 table spoon of oil in it, heated it on a gas stove. Then added Fennel seeds and Curry leaves (chopped and added while tempering). Saute for 10 - 15 seconds till the Fennel seeds change colour. Make sure the Curry leaves don’t get burnt. You will have to turn off the gas stove and add this to the Onion Tomato mixture. Then Mix well as shown in the images.





(4) Add all the basic dry Indian spices like Turmeric / Haldi powder, Garam masala powder, Cumin / Jeera powder and Coriander / Dhania powder. Mix well.


After mixing....




(5) Add the boiled beetroot with water used for boiling it, all together to the Onion Tomato mixture. Add the boiled Potatoes too.

Mix well.



After mixing ....




(6) Add one glass of water and mix well. Add salt if required. As I added salt during boiling beetroot and potatoes, it was tasting fine and I did not feel the need to add any more salt.



(7) Allow it to simmer for 5 minutes. By this time, the curry would have reached the required consistency. You may now switch off the gas stove.




The Beetroot Potato Curry is ready.




(8) Transfer the Beetroot Potato Curry into a serving bowl. 



(9) Garnish it with chopped Coriander leaves. 





(10) Serve the Beetroot Potato Curry with chapatis or with Rice Dal as side dish.