Beetroot curry is a simple and refreshing stir fry made with fresh beets and coconut. Simple spices and fresh coconut makes this a perfect side dish with sambar and rasam rice.
If you ask me for one of my favorite vegetables, the answer would be Beets. I just love beetroot and as weird as it might sound, I love beetroot curry with curd / yogurt rice.
I guess I passed on my liking to my children. Both my kids love beetroot in any form. As much as I love Beetroot, I hate the process of chopping the vegetable. Fresh Beets are quite hard and the whole process of peeling and chopping gives me jitters.
This was until my mom passed on a very useful tip to process the beets. Once I got to prepping the beetroots this way, I cook with them much more often.
How to easily peel and chop Beetroot?
The answer is pre-cooking the beets in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot. This extra step makes it so easy to peel and chop the beetroot. Once this step is done, this beetroot poriyal takes just about 10 minutes to make.
If you are a beetroot lover, then apart from this curry, you should also try the Beetroot poriyal with onion. For this recipe, I used the Instant Pot again to cook the beets and then grated them. And if you want to use beetroot as a salad, try this beetroot walnut feta salad where we use roasted beets.
Other recipes, that are a must try is Beetroot Rice and Beetroot Paratha. The color of the rice will make you want to come back for more. Beetroot paratha or beetroot flatbread is a great recipe to make for those who don't want to eat beets. A great way to mask the vegetable.
Ingredients to make Beetroot curry
Check the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact measurements and printable detailed recipes.
Beetroot - Choose evenly sized beetroot for uniform cooking. If buying beets with leaves, remove the leaves and use them in other recipes like this Instant pot Dal tadka with beetroot green or this Dal made with lentils and beetroot greens.
Seasoning - I like to use coconut oil for seasoning to make any coconut-based recipe. You could also use any regular cooking oil. I season my poriyal with mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilies, curry leaves, and asafetida.
Coconut - Freshly grated coconut is the best to use in the recipe. I use grated frozen coconut which I thaw and then use in the recipe. If these two are not available, then we could also use desiccated coconut.
Salt and sugar - We use salt as needed and I also use a little sugar in my coconut-based curry. This is also a tip taught by my mother that really enhances the flavor of the curry.
Procedure
- Wash the beets and pressure cook them for 4 to 5 whistles. If using an Instant pot, place the washed beetroot in the inner pot along with enough water and then pressure cook for 15 minutes. Once cooked, remove it from the cooker and let it come to room temperature. At this point, you will notice that you can peel the skin of the beets just like you do for cooked potatoes.
- Peel the beets and chop them into small pieces. Cooking the beets makes the chopping very easy (I could make this curry every day).
- Heat oil in a pan and add the seasonings (Mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilies, curry leaves, asafetida).
- Now add the chopped beets, salt, and sugar. I always add sugar to any of my coconut-based curry. Why? Because my mother always adds sugar.
- Mix well. Reduce the flame and let the beets cook for 5 minutes. Now add the grated coconut and mix it well.
- Take it off the flame and serve the beetroot curry.
Expert tips
- When choosing beets, always choose small and even-sized ones. This results in even cooking of the vegetable. If the beets are too big, it takes a long time to cook and mostly they cook on the outside and remain uncooked on the inside.
- If there is no pressure cook, peel the beets and cut them into small pieces. Once the seasonings are added, add the beets and cook them covered for at least 20 minutes. Check for doneness and then proceed as above.
Frequently asked questions
Beetroot curry or beetroot poriyal tastes best with rice. It can also be served with roti or poori.
You could use the desiccated coconut if fresh grated coconut is not available. You could also make this with onion instead of using coconut like Beetroot Poriyal with onion.
Beetroot curry tastes best when fresh. If storing the leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You could also freeze the cooked and chopped beets and use them to make curry whenever needed.
Similar Dry Curry / Poriyal Recipes
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
Recipe
Beetroot Curry | Beetroot Poriyal with Coconut
Equipment
- pan
- spatula
Ingredients
- 4 small ones Beetroots
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoon Black gram lentil/urad dal/ullathum paruppu
- 3 Red chilies
- few Curry leaves
- to taste Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 tbsp. Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Asafetida
- ½ cup Coconut Grated
Instructions
- Wash the beets and pressure cook them for 4 to 5 whistles. If suing Instant pot, place the washed beetroot in the inner pot along with enough water and then pressure cook for 15 minutes. Once cooked, remove it from the cooker and let come to room temperature. At this point you will notice that you can peel the skin of the beets just like you do for cooked potatoes.
- Peel the beets and chop them into small pieces. Cooking the beets makes the chopping very easy (I could make this curry every day.)
- Heat oil in a pan and add the seasonings (Mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilies, curry leaves, asafetida).
- Now add the chopped beets, salt, and sugar. I always add sugar to any of my coconut-based curries. Why? Because my mother always adds sugar.
- Mix well and let it cook for 5 mins. Now add the grated coconut and mix it well.
- Take it off the flame and serve the beetroot curry!!!
Notes
- When choosing beets, always choose small and even sized ones. This results in even cooking of the vegetable. If the beets are too big, it takes a long time to cook and mostly they cook on the outside and remain uncooked on the inside.
- If there is no pressure cook, peel the beets and cut them into small pieces. Once the seasonings are added, add the beets and cook them covered for at least 20 mins. Check for doneness and then proceed as above.
Nutrition
NARMADHA says
I used to hate beetroot as a kid but now used to like this more. Beetroot curry with lots of coconut looks so inviting. So simple to make when cooking in a pressure cooker.
Usha Rao says
I don't mind beetroot but no takers for it at home. So I usually add to my salads and raita when I cook for myself. This time it was this curry. It was a perfect side for yogurt rice. The tip to peel and chop beets is a good one. Comes in very handy.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Usha! The tip is my life saver.
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth says
I actually love the idea of cooking the beetroots first before peeling and chopping them! Why didn't it never occur to me before... hehe... We love such simple side dishes. Umma would never make beetroot because she never liked them but my girls picked up this vegetable from their babysit and then asked umma to cook it for them, she fell in love with this vegetable through her grand children. Hehe... Totally love how simple this is...
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Turn of the tables right! We grow up along with the kids. And this tip of cooking the beetroot made me make it very often.
Allyssa says
So genius idea! Thanks a lot for sharing this very helpful recipe! Will make it again because it's really easy and it taste good! Well done!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks a lot Allyssa! So glad you found the tip useful.
Rajani says
I am a fan of beetroot as well but I like with sambar rice than curd rice. I like the precooking tip, I usually peel and grate beets with chilies and garlic in a food processor and then sauté it. Lovely clicks too!
Radha says
This is an excellent curry and one of my favorite curry. The curry looks delicious and love the color of beetroots. This is a simple and nutritious curry. Thanks for the tips.
Ritu says
So far I have used beetroot for salad, raita and breads only. Never tried any curry with it. But now want to try this way too. I'm sure it would have tasted good with coconut.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
This is one of the regulars at home. Give it a try.
Vaishali says
I am very fond of beetroots- but like them simply boiled ones. i have tried a couple of dishes with it, but find them very sweet, and you know I am a spicy person. Let me try this side dish, with coconut it will taste wonderful.
Archana says
Let me confess I hated beets in my college mess and I hated them for quite some time. But now I love the vegetable and I make is similarly only I do not add coconut. I Will add next time which is tomorrow as that is the only vegetable I have now 😀
Suma Gandlur says
Yummy curry. I add a little sugar too since it enhances the sweetness of beets. I prepare the curry same way and beets is a favorite at our home too. 🙂
V. Padmajha says
Super tip Sandhya. I'll try it next time I make this curry. Sometimes we make grated beets curry and I use both onion and coconut.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Padmajha! You will never go back to cooking it any way after you try this method of cooking.
Anonymous says
Beet can be grated for quick cooking. Looks good as well.
Smitha Rajesh
Torviewtoronto says
we make similar but I don't add sugar looks wonderful
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks for your comments 🙂 I add the sugar just b'cos my mother adds it. I don't think we really need the sugar though 🙂
Cheers,
Sandhya