Beetroot Parippu Poriyal

I have to confess that I am a hardcore beetroot lover. My daughter is the opposite. I remember when I was in my teens, I used to help Amma cut veggies. Since my mom was a working woman, she always made sure that we had all the veggies cut and kept in airtight boxes ready for the next day. Now she is retired, but there has been no change in this habit. I had really enjoyed my job of chopping the veggies in those days (now, I really hate it!!) and my mom was really proud of me chopping the beetroot into fine pieces.  I don’t have to tell you that I was proud too!!! Do I? These days, I am not having that kind of patience and as we are always trying to beat the time, I end up grating / slicing the beetroot whenever I plan to make poriyal. That way, it is much easier. I own a chopper but it is not working at the moment. Hence I had to rely on my slicing skills. Beetroot, when mixed with moong dal (paasi parippu or cherupayar parippu) makes a great dish and even beetroot haters like my daughter would love it. Moong dal neutralises the earthy flavour of the beets and also increases the nutritional value of the dish.

Ingredients:

Method:

1. Half cook the moong dal with turmeric powder and salt in a heavy bottomed vessel. Make sure it does not get overcooked. The texture is very important and it should be a little crunchy. Drain it and keep aside.

2. In a pan, add oil, red chillies, curry leaves and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add chopped onions. When the onions turn light brown, add the beetroot and saute it well. You can sprinkle water and keep it covered on low flame for about 5-7 minutes so that it cooks and loses its raw taste. Add salt.

3. In the meantime, grind the coconut with green chillies.

4. When the beetroot is almost cooked, add the dal and coconut. mix well. Keep it on low flame again for another 5 minutes without covering the pan.

5. Switch off the flame and serve it with rice and sambhar.

I just added about half a teaspoon of coconut and hence it does not show in the picture. You can add more to make it more tastier. Did you like this dish? Are you going to try this soon? Do not forget to send in your pictures to rajeshvkumar1@gmail.com or share them on my facebook page.