Beetroot is very rarely used by my mom in her cooking. May be because of its sweetish and a very strong taste. But whenever my dad brought beetroots, she prepared this sasam. This goes well as a side dish with rice. Its texture is something like a chutney. My brother used beetroots very frequently, so even I started using it. Last time when I bought it, my mom gave me this recipe and I absolutely loved the taste. I also loved to eat it as a thick gravy with rice.
Since beetroot is cooked as a normal ‘stir fry’ first and ground into a chutney later, I guess this can be made with the leftover beetroot stir fry also. That way you will not get bored of eating same thing for days ;).
Ingredients: Beetroot 2 Mustard 1/2 tea spn Asafoetida a pinch Green chillies 4-5 Tamarind 1/2 tea spn Coconut 1/2 cup Oil 1 tea spn Salt
Method: Cut beetroot into small pieces (Mom had told me to ‘grate’ beetroot, but since it is ground again after cooking, I chose to cut it, to save time). Heat oil and add mustard. When they start popping, add asafoetida, chillies and beetroot. Add 1/4 cup water and cook till beetroot becomes soft.
Grind coconut, salt and tamarind to paste with minimum water (just like any normal chutney). Now add cooked beetroot and grind again (the beetroot need not become very smooth paste. 2-3 rounds in mixer/blender to coarsely grind the beetroot is enough). Serve as a sidedish with rice.
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 20mins
‘Tamdi bhajji’ in Konkani means ‘Red edible plant’. This is referred to as ‘tamdi bhajji’ or ‘moDil bhajji’ (means the ‘edible plant cut into pieces’, I donno how this name has come). This is very famous at our native, people used to grow it at home, but now it is widely available in markets also. This is widely used in Kerala cusine (LG has given a lot of good information about this bhajji) and called as ‘cheera’.
Since I have no idea whether it is a type of spinach or amaranth, I thought of going with the name specified here , here (this is the variety usually available in Bangalore) and here (this is the one loved by all at our native). (According to LG’s post specified above, this is a type of spinach). I have seen this many times in Chinese stores, when I googled, I got to know, this is also called as ‘Chinese spinach’.
Among all other dishes with this bhajji, my favourite is this side dish. While cooking this bhajji, do not cover the lid. If it is covered, the red color goes off.
Red Amaranth sidedish (Tamdi bhajji randayi)
Ingredients
- 1 and half cups Tamdi bhajji
- 1/2 cup Black eyed beans alsande
- 3/4 cup Coconut
- 3-4 Teppal/Tirphal
- 1/2 tea spn Tamarind or 2-3 pieces Kokum
- 4-5 Red chillies
- Salt
Instructions
- Cook black eyed beans in pressure cooker till they become soft(around 1-2 whistles), but they should not be mashed.
- Cook bhajji in around 2 cups of water (do not close the lid while cooking).
- Grind coconut with red chillies and tamarind(if using) to a very smooth paste.
- Add the masala and cooked beans to bhajji, add slightly crushed teppal and kokum pieces(use any one, kokum or tamarind).
- Add salt and cook till masala becomes slightly thick.
- Serve as a side dish with rice/chapathi.
Ingredients:
Traditional recipe calls for teppal, but this dish tastes good even if teppal is not used.
Method:
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 20mins
