This Beetroot Sabzi or Beetroot Curry is a simple South Indian style recipe made with beets, onions, coconut, herbs and spices. The curry is lightly spiced and has a mild sweetness from the beetroot. It is quick to prepare and works well as a side dish with roti, chapati or with a South Indian meal.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 beetroot (- medium to large or 1.5 cups chopped cooked beets)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (or add as required)
  • 2.5 cups water (- for pressure cooking beetroot)
  • 1.5 tablespoons oil
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds (- black)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • 1 to 2 dry red chilies (- broken into two and seeds removed)
  • 1 to 2 green chilies (- chopped finely or ½ to 1 teaspoon chopped)
  • 10 to 12 curry leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric ((ground turmeric))
  • ¼ cup finely chopped onions (or 1 small onion finely chopped)
  • salt
  • ¼ cup fresh grated coconut (as per taste)

Method

Cooking beetroot

  1. Rinse the beetroot first very well in water.
  2. Then add 2.5 cups of water in the pressure cooker. Add the beetroot.
  3. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of salt.
  4. Pressure cook the beetroot for 3 to 4 whistles or for 7 to 8 minutes.
  5. Once the pressure drops down in the cooker on its own, remove the beetroot. You can use the water in soups, dals, rasams or to knead chapati dough.
  6. When the beetroot, become warm, peel and chop them finely.

Making beetroot sabji

  1. Heat a pan and then add oil.
  2. When the oil becomes hot, reduce the flame to a low. Then add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, a generous pinch of asafoetida, broken dry red chilies, curry leaves and turmeric.
  3. Saute until the mustard seeds and cumin seeds crackle on low heat. Ensure that the spices do not burn
  4. Then add finely chopped onions and finely chopped green chilies.
  5. Saute the onions until they become translucent.
  6. Sprinkle salt as required. Stir and mix well.
  7. Add the boiled, chopped beetroot. Mix and stir well.
  8. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on a low heat.
  9. Since the beetroot is boiled, no need to cook the sabzi for a longer time.
  10. Remove the lid, stir the sabzi. Finally, add freshly grated coconut.
  11. Stir well. After 1 to 2 minutes switch off the heat.
  12. Serve beetroot sabzi hot or warm as a side dish with your meals.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.