Beetroot Pachadi / Kerala Style Beetroot Yogurt Curry Recipe

Beetroot Pachadi is a healthy delicious side dish from Indian state of Kerala. Made with cooked beetroot, coconut and plain yogurt , it is usually served on special occasions and festivals and is an integral part of Onam Sadya. The recipe is very simple and easy to follow. Beetroot pachadi has a very appealing color and tastes great with steamed rice.

I love simple yet flavorful yogurt based dishes. South Indian pachadi is similar to the North Indian raita. An onion garlic free ,comfort food with distinct coconut flavors , beetroot pachadi is one of the best ways to include the healthy beetroots into our daily diet.

#Kerala Cuisine was this month's theme for Facebook group, Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge. My partner for this theme, Poornima Porchelvan blogs at poornimacookbook.com. Do check out her space for some lovely recipes. She gave me ginger and yogurt as my two secret ingredients, and i cooked this flavorful and aromatic beetroot pachadi using them. In return , i gave Poornima, coconut milk and green chilies as her secret ingredients.

                                             

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Servings: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup , peeled grated beetroot
• 1 cup curd
• 1/4 cup fresh scrapped coconut
• 1 green chili
• 1/2 inch ginger piece
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 sprig curry leaves

 Method:

1. Add the grated beetroot with 1/2 cup water and salt to taste in a pan. Cover cook the beetroots until they are soft and cooked well and all the water has been evaporated.

2. In a grinder jar, grind scrapped coconut, ginger and green chilies to a paste without adding water.
Add this paste to the cooked beetroot and stir well.

3. Whisk the curd well using a wire whisker until it is smooth , and without any lumps. Put off the flame and add the whisked curd to the beetroot coconut mix. Stir well. The dish will turn into a gorgeous pink color .

4. Lastly , heat the coconut oil in a small wok . add mustard seeds to it. Once the seeds splutter, add curry leaves to it and pour this tempering over the raita. Serve the beetroot pacahdi with  steamed rice and enjoy with your loved ones !

  Recipe Notes:

• Whisk the curd well before adding it to the pachadi.
• Add  curd only after the gas has been put off or there are chances that curd mught curdle and spoil the whole dish.
• You may increase the quantity of green chili if your prefer spicy taste to the pachadi.
• Use coconut oil for tempering if you are looking for the authentic taste of the pachadi.

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below. 

Follow us on #Facebook  #Instagram ,  #Twitter and #Google+  for more recipes and new updates. 

For more beetroot recipes, do check out the following posts from my blog

• Beetroot Stir Fry

                                          

• Baked Beetroot Cutlet

                                            

• Egg-less Beet-root Chocolate Cake

                                            

• Egg-less Butte-rless Beetroot Oatmeal Cookies

                                             

Falahari Kaddu Ki Tikki / Pumpkin Pattie / Navratri Fasting Recipe

Kaddu ki tikki is a healthy delicious vegetarian cutlet or pattie . Made with spiced pumpkin and potato mash , these pattie are coated with sesame seeds and shallow fried in ghee until they turn crisp and golden brown in color. Falahari means satvik food which can be had while you are fasting. The recipe to these crunchy tasty cutlets is very simple and requires only few basic ingredients. Whether you are fasting or not, they make up for a filling and nutritious snack and can be had with any dip of your choice. Here, since it is a Navratri fasting recipe, i have served it with Peanut Yogurt Dip.

Pumpkin is a highly nutrient dense food . It is rich in vitamins and minerals but low in calories. Pumpkin is versatile and can be used in a number of ways in cooking . It can be incorporated in our daily diet in the form of soups, curries, bakes, purees, and much more. Here in this pattie, boiled pumpkin and potato are mashed and mixed with spices , herbs and lemon juice. If not making for fast, chickpea flour or bread crumbs can be added to the spiced mash . Here i have used powdered barn yard millet. You may use amaranth flour or water chestnut flour for binding instead , if you wish. Small balls of the formed dough are flattened to form a pattie. Best part is that you can prepare the pattie before hand and refrigerate it. Finally coat it with white sesame seeds and shallow fry in ghee until it turns crunchy and golden brown in color.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red pumpkin chunks (peeled and seeds discarded)
• 2 medium size potatoes
• 1/4 cup barnyard millet flour
• 2 green chilies
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper 
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves. chopped
• 1  teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
• Rock salt to taste
• Ghee for shallow frying the pattie

Method:

1. Cook the pumpkin chunks and potato in a pressure cooker . I have taken pumpkin pieces in one container and the halved potatoes in another and placed one over the other in a pressure cooker and cooked for 2 whistles and simmer for another 5 minutes. We are looking for well cooked veggies that are soft and can be easily mashed.

2. Allow the veggies to cool down. Drain the pumpkin. Use the water if any in soups or dal. Peel the potatoes. Take the boiled potatoes and pumpkin in a mixing bowl and mash it with a potato masher.

3. Crush ginger, green chilies and cumin seeds together and add it to the mash along with freshly crushed black pepper, rock salt and Barnyard millet flour. Mix everything well. Add lemon juice and chopped coriander and combine the mix into a dough ball.

4. Divide the mix into 7-8 equal portions and roll each portion between the palms and flatten to make a pattie. Arrange all the pattie on a plate and refrigerate it for 10 minutes ( if you have time) so that the pattie hold the shape well and do not crumble while shallow frying.

5. Now take the white sesame seeds in a plate and press each pattie over it from both sides so that the seeds coat it. Now grease a skillet with ghee and heat it over medium flame. Place the pattie over it and driizzle more ghee and shallow fry until they turn golden brown. Flip them carefully and cook until they turn crisp from both sides.

 6. Serve the delicious kaddu ki tikki with Dahi Shengdana Chutney / Peanut Curd Dip or any other dip of your choice.

  Recipe Notes:

• If not making for fast, chickpea flour or bread crumbs can be added to the spiced pumpkin and potato mash  to make the pattie.
• You may use amaranth flour or water chestnut flour for binding instead of barnyard flour.
• The tikki can be served with any dip of your choice.
• Best part is that you can prepare the pattie before hand and refrigerate it until use. Just coat the pattie with sesame seeds and shallow fry until they turn crunchy and golden brown from both sides.

Sending this delicious and healthy Falahari Kaddu ki Tikki recipe to the #163rd #FoodieMondayBlogHop where the theme for the week is #PumpkinTreats.

                       

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below. 

Follow us on #Facebook  #Instagram ,  #Twitter and #Google+  for more recipes and new updates. 

For more Pumpkin recipes from my blog , checkout the following links:

• Kaddu Ki Sabzi

                                     

• Pumpkin Oambal

                                    

• Kaddu Ka Khatta

                                    

Dahi Shengdana Chutney / Peanut Curd Dip / Phalahari Chutney Recipe

Dahi Shengdana Chutney is a typical Maharashtrian dip made with roasted peanuts, fresh curd and basic Indian spices. This protein rich chutney is creamy  in texture ,is spicy, mildly sweet and tangy in taste. Dahi shengdana chutney is a phalahari dip which means it is onion garlic free and can be had as a fasting food (vrat ka khana) for Navratri and Ekadashi fast. It serves as a lip smacking accompaniment to all the fasting snack dishes like, sabudana wada, Raw Banana Cutlets, phalahari tikki , Samak Upma, Sabudana Khichadi etc as well as the regular breakfast dishes like Idli, Dosa, Pesarattu, appe, Cutlets and Fritters.

Peanuts is used liberally in Maharashtrian cuisine . We Maharashtrians keep roasted peanut powder handy and use it in our chutneys, dips , vegetable stir fries and curries . Peanuts adds a nutty flavor and creamy texture to the dish apart from the various health benefits it offers. Peanuts are excellent plant based source of protein and rich in various vitamins and minerals. They can be useful as a part of weight loss diet and may reduce the risk of heart disease and gall stone. Source

 This dahi shengdana chutney is one of the favourite dips at my place and a quintessential along with sabudana wada. Here i have served it with phalahari cutlets. The consistency of chutney can be adjusted as per personal liking. Curd imparts the tangy taste to the dip while green chili gives it a required spicy kick. You just have to blend the ingredients to a smooth dip in a grinder jar. Serve the chutney right away or temper it with ghee and cumin seeds. I always go for the tempering. If you have roasted peanuts ready at hand, this flavorful dip is a breeze to make. Can be stored in refrigerator for a day. So without further ado lets get started. 

Preparation time: 2-3 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 minute

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup curd
• 1-2 green chilies or as per taste
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 1-2 teaspoon sugar
• Rock salt to taste

 Method:

1. Transfer the roasted and peeled peanuts, half of the cumin seeds, sugar, salt and green chilies to a grinder jar.

  2. Pulse to get a coarse powder. Now add curd and pulse again to get a smooth lump free paste. Add 2-3 tablespoon drinking water and pulse again. You may add more water if you wish to have a chutney of liquid consistency.

3. Heat ghee in a small pan. Add the remaining cumin seeds to it. Once the seeds crackle, stir in the peanut curd paste and give a quick mix.

4. Cook the chutney on low flame for a minute or two or until it gets a boil. Put off the flame. Allow the chutney to cool down before serving . The chutney thickens further on cooling so adjust the time of cooking accordingly.

  5. Serve the dahi shengdana chutney with fasting snack or regular breakfast dishes and enjoy ! I have served the dip with phalahari tikki.

Recipe Notes:

• Do not use un-roasted peanuts for this dip. Roast the peanuts on low to medium flame until they turn golden. Allow them to cool down, de skin and use them in the recipe for a flavorful treat.
• Use fresh curd which is not very sour.
• Do not skip sugar as it balances the tangy and spicy taste of the dip.
• You may add the quantity of green chili if you wish to have a spicy dip.
• The chutney can be served with all the fasting snack dishes like, sabudana wada, Raw Banana Cutlets, phalahari tikki , Samak Upma, Sabudana Khichadi etc as well as the regular breakfast dishes like Idli, Dosa, Pesarattu, Appe, Cutlets and Fritters.
• The chutney can be stored in refrigerator for a day.
• Do not cook the chutney for more than a minute or two as it would become very thick and dry. The chutney thickens further as it cools down so adjust the quantity of water added and cooking time accordingly.

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below. 

Follow us on #Facebook  #Instagram ,  #Twitter and #Google+  for more recipes and new updates. 

For more chutney recipes, check out the following links from my blog.

• Til Ki Chutney

                                 

• Amla Chutney

                                 

• Guacamole / Avacado Dip

                                 

• Fresh Coconut Chutney

                                 

• Khajoor Imli Chutney

                                 

• Coriander Chutney

                                 

• Garlic Chutney

                                 

• Coconut Curry Leaves Chutney