Beetroot Stir Fry Or Beetroot Poriyal

 Sorry for the delay but as promised in my last post on beetroot garlic rasam, I’m here today to share with you Beetroot Stir Fry or Beetroot Poriyal. To know more about beetroot, please click here. This recipe is just an extension to my previous recipe. I’m preparing this stir-fry using the beetroot pieces boiled to make beetroot rasam.

The term Poriyal is a South Indian Tamil Nadu style steamed vegetable stir-fry. It refers to preparation where the steamed vegetables are sautéed in spices and topped with fresh grated coconut. This can be done by either grating or chopping beetroot finely.

My fascination with beetroot continues to grow and multiply. Beetroot is such a hearty and earthy vegetable. Whenever I peel beets, I smell the scent of rain on dry earth and totally love that earthy smell. It’s an easy, healthy and straightforward recipe. First the beetroot is steamed and then it’s tempered the indian way. Nothing fancy out here.

Off to the most simple yet delicious recipe for Beetroot Stir Fry Or Beetroot Poriyal!!

Step-by-Step process in making Beetroot Stir Fry or Beetroot Poriyal:

• Remove the outer layer of the Beetroot and dice it into tiny cubes.

Note: You can either grate or chop the beetroot finely. Here I have chopped the beetroot. If you grate, it takes less time for the veggies to cook but I like to have chunks of beetroot while eating. I grate only if I’m in a hurry.

• Transfer the beetroot pieces to a microwave safe bowl.

• To the diced beets in the bowl, add a pinch of salt, 3 cups of water and microwave for 5 to 8 minutes.

Note: I’m following this method of boiling using lot of water since I’m going to prepare Beetroot garlic rasam with the liquid. In case you only want to make beetroot stir-fry, you have different ways to steam the vegetables. You can follow above method or any of the below methods.

1. You can just sprinkle half a cup of water and a pinch of salt and microwave. (OR)
2. You can cook beetroot over medium flame directly after tempering and sprinkling a little water while stir-frying. (OR)
3. You can pressure cook the diced beets with a little water and then use to stir-fry.

• Heat oil over medium heat in a frying pan.
• When the oil is hot enough add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies.

Note: You can also add any lentils at this stage to the tempering like black gram (Urad dal) and Slit Bengal gram (channa dal). But today I’m keeping it as simple as possible.

• Once the mustard seeds crackle, add curry leaves and asafoetida. (Sorry not in pic. as we are not getting curry leaves in Hannover as there is a ban on curry leaves since few weeks…So no fresh curry leaves for sometime!!)
• Now add the steamed/boiled beetroot pieces and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.

• Then add grated fresh coconut to the cooked beetroot and stir well.
• Check for salt and adjust if required.

• Garnish with coriander and transfer to a serving bowl.
• Serve Beetroot Stir Fry Or Beetroot Poriyal with hot rice and sambar or rasam. It also goes very well with roti or phulka. You can also enjoy it as a salad.

Print Recipe

Beetroot Stir Fry Or Beetroot Poriyal

A South Indian style stir-fry, where the steamed vegetables are sautéed in spices and topped with fresh grated coconut.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 2 to 3

Author: Padma

Ingredients

• 2 medium sized beetroot finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 2 dry red chillies broken
• A pinch of asafoetida Hing
• A sprig of curry leaves
• 3-4 Tablespoon grated fresh coconut
• 2 Tablespoons coriander finely chopped
• Salt as required

Instructions

• To the diced beets, add a pinch of salt, half a cup of water and microwave for 5 to 8 minutes.
• Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
• When the oil is hot enough add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies.
• Once the mustard seeds crackle, add curry leaves and asafoetida.
• Now add the steamed/boiled beetroot pieces and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Check for salt and adjust if required.
• Then add grated coconut to the cooked beetroot, stir well and turn off the heat.
• Garnish with coriander and transfer to a serving bowl.

Notes

You can follow the same process for vegetables like carrots, beans, raw banana, cluster beans, cauliflower etc.
1. You can also add green chillies instead of red chillies.
2. If you want you can also include finely chopped onion to the pan and sauté until transparent and then proceed with adding steamed beetroot pieces.
3. Take care while adding salt because this vegetable does not require a lot of salt.
4. Skip coconut if you do not like it.
5. You can also include lentils in the tempering.
6. You can also add the spicy lentil powder used in eggplant stir-fry.
7. In case you want to prepare beetroot garlic rasam, boil beetroot pieces with 3 cups water.

You may want to check out other popular posts on stir fries from my blog-

• Ivy gourd stir fry
• Okra stir fry
• Bitter gourd stir fry
• Tricolour capsicum masala stir fry
• Eggplant stir fry with spicy lentil powder
• Arbi fry
• Stuffed Okra
• Potato fry
• Stuffed Eggplant

Many more to come!!……Stay Tuned!!

Happy Cooking 🙂

Cheers!!

Padma