Kerala Special Beetroot Pacchadi Recipe

You can make your pacchadi with cucumber, beetroot or pineapple. This is a Kerala dish made with coconut paste. Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables. It is highly nutritious and very tasty. I love beetroot thoran with rice. I love beetroot mezhukkupuratti even more.

Today, I am planning on making Pineapple pachadi. I have given the recipe in the previous post. Read the secrets of making tasty pachadi in the Pineapple Pachadi post.

Since I was on the topic of pacchadi, I thought I will add the other pacchadi recipes as well. So, here is a good recipe for beetroot pachadi. Next, I will post a recipe for cucumber pachadi. The basic recipe is the same, but there are certain individual variations.

Ingredients:

1.       Grated beetroot – 1 ½ cups

2.       Green Chillies  – 2

3.       Salt – to taste

4.       Water – to cook

Cook the grated beetroot with chopped green chillies and salt. Cook till dry.

5.       Grated coconut - ½ cup

6.       Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

7.       Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

8.       Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Make a smooth paste of these ingredients with a little water and add it to the cooked beetroot. Cook for five minutes.

9.       Thick Curd – 1 cup

Switch off the heat. Add beaten curd and mix well. Add as much or as little curd as you wish. Consistency of the gravy depends on the amount of curd.

10.   Coconut oil – 1 tbsp

11.   Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

12.   Dry red chillies - 2

13.   Asafoetida – ¼ tsp

14.   Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Heat coconut oil in a small kadai. Add remaining ingredients and sauté for a minute. Pour this over the curry. Mix lightly. Serve hot with rice.

Grandma's Secret Tips:

• Add curd to hot curry and mix. Never boil any curry after adding curd. You may switch off the heat before adding the curd.
• The amount of curd depends on how much gravy you want.
• Though only a pinch is added, asafoetida adds a distinct flavor to the curry. So I would advise you not to skip it.