I love beetroot for its sweetness. This dish cuts that sweetness with light spicing and vinegar to make a mouth sumptuous dish. It’s from a recipe by Chandra Dissanayake from Ceylon Cookery.
Beetroot Tempered
A lightly spiced dish that let's beetroot star from the recipes of Chandra Dissanayke
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 500 g beetroot
- 1 or 2 red chillies
- 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp onion
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 tsp vinegar
- 1 cup coconut milk
Instructions
- Wash 550 g beetroot. I have used baby beetroot but use whatever size to make up 500 g
- Peel and grate the beetroot - use the coarsest grating size you have
- Finely chop 1 or 2 red chillies
- Pound to a powder 1 tsp coriander seeds (or use the equivalent in all ready ground coriander powder
- Finely chop 2 tbsp brown onion
- Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a saucepan
- Add the 2 tbsp chopped onion to the pan
- Add the 1 tsp ground coriander to the pan
- Add 1 or 2 finely chopped chillies to the pan
- Strip the leaflets off the curry leaf and add to the pan - you can chop them fine if you like or leave them whole
- Add 2 tsp salt to the saucepan
- Add 1 tsp sugar to the pan
- Let this all saute for 2 - 3 minutes
- Add the grated beetroot and let this all saute for a further 2 -3 minutes, stirring all the time to get the spicing mixed well with the beetroot
- Add 3 tsps vinegar to the pan
- Add 1 cup coconut milk to the pan
- Let this all simmer till the beetroot is softened but not mushy - about 10 minutes at the most
- Serve as a side dish with rice or roti.