Beetroot Kurma recipe |Side dish for chapati

Kurma| korma is an easy side dish for chapathi | poori. I have posted many chapathi side dish recipes and kurma variaties, but for the first time, I am trying kurma with one of my favorite veggie beetroot. If you are not a beetroot lover, try the same kurma with mixed vegetables or peas or paneer. My mom is a regular viewer of the Venkatesh bhat show and she was hooked by his kurma recipe. This episode was telecasted almost an year back. From then she was telling me to try this recipe but finally i tried the same style by replacing veggies with beetroot and green peas. We all loved the recipe and it paired well with poori and chapathi too. I am back from my 3 weeks vacation to chennai. Slowly coming back to routine. Stay tuned for interesting recipes coming for this Pongal season.
Check out my other kurma recipes

• Peas kurma
• Navaratan kurma

Beetroot kurma recipe

  Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 30 Mins |Serves: 3-4

     To roast and grind 1:
Fennel seeds  1/2 tblsp
Garlic    6 pods
Cashew nuts  7
Roasted gram | pottukadalai   1/2 tblsp
Green chili   1-2
 Other ingredients   
Onion   1
Tomato   1
Garlic pods  6
Cinnamon   a small piece
Red chili powder  1 tsp
Turmeric powder  1/4 tsp
Beetroot   2 small (chopped into cubes)
Green peas   1/4 cup (optional)
Oil   3 tsp
Salt   as needed      

Method:

• Dry roast cashew nuts, garlic pods, roasted gram(pottukadalai| chutney dal), green chili, fennel seeds in a pan. Allow this to cool.

• Grind this into a smooth paste. Keep this aside.

• Chop the tomatoes and onions finely.
• In the pan add oil and add the onions. Saute till it becomes pink.
• Add the garlic pods.
• Add the tomatoes now. 

• Add red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Cook for few minutes in low flame till the tomatoes turn mushy.

• Add the chopped beetroot and green peas. Adding green peas is optional. 
• Saute it for a minute.
• Add the ground paste to this. 

• Add 1 cup of water and transfer this to a pressure cooker and cook for one whistle.

• Once the whistle subsides, open the cooker and beetroot kurma is ready. I used the pan just to make the pictures clear to view. 
• Add little water if the kurma is thick. 

Notes:

1. Cashew nut gives a creamy texture and thickness to the kurma, so do not skip that.
2. Do not add roasted gram more than the quantity mentioned.
3. You can replace beetroot with mixed veggies or only cauliflower and peas.
4. You can separately cook the beetroot and peas and add it to the gravy. In that case, you can do the entire cooking in the pan itself.