Beetroot Halwa

The rich reddish-purple color of beetroot makes any dish quite beautiful. Besides being a very healthy vegetable, it is quite versatile - as salad, vegetable entree, pickle, dessert and even wine. Beetroot halwa is a favourite in our family, especially in the winter, since this dish is best eaten warm. The wonderful color makes it quite appetising too :)

Ingredients:
Grated Beetroot - 6 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 4 cups
Grated coconut - 3 cups
Cream or ghee - 2 tbsp
Vannila essence - 1 tsp
Broken cashew nuts - a handful.

Method:
In a thick-bottomed kadhai, boil beetroot and milk for 10 minutes.
Add the sugar and cook till it is of medium thick consistency. Keep stirring occasionally.
Add coconut, mix well and continue cooking for 10 to 15 minutes more.
Remove from fire and add vanilla, cream and nuts.

Just like carrot halwa, this sweet dish tastes best when eaten warm.

Red-Adi or Beetroot pachadi

Now that’s what my husband calls the pachadi that I make with beetroot. The purple color of the beet seeps into the yoghurt giving it the most wonderful pink color. So ‘pache’adi became ‘red’ adi . Got it? Now that what I call a sense of humor… :)

Ingredients:
Beetroot -1 small
Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Red chillies –3
Grated ginger root- 1 tbsp
Sliced Shallots - 2
Curry leaves - a few
Yogurt - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - as needed

Method:
Beetroot is hard to cut and time-consuming (Believe me; I learnt it the hard way). Cook the whole beetroot in a pressure cooker with some water and salt. Once cooked, the thin peel can be easily removed with a kitchen towel. Now chop the beetroot into small cubes and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and pop the mustard seeds. Add in red chilies, curry leaves, ginger and shallots and fry them. Once the rawness goes away add in the beetroot pieces and saute well.

Nallaite vayaanu kaiumbam take it off the fire. Once it cools, mix in the yogurt. Serve with any type of rice and if you like, even Chicken Biryani.

Beta vulgaris, commonly known as beet or beetroot, is a flowering plant species in the family Chenopodiaceae. An average size cup of beetroot would contain approximately 31 food calories; 8.5g of carbohydrate, 1.5g of dietary fiber, phosphorous, potassium and 1.5g of protein. Cooked beetroot is a great source of folate that can protect you against high blood pressure, Alzheimer¢s and dementia. The colour of red beetroot is due to a variety of betalain pigments, unlike most other red plants, such as red cabbage, which contain anthocyanin pigments.Beetroot is good for the health of the heart as it contains soluble fibre with can help to reduce high blood cholesterol levels. It also contains the phytochemicals carotenoids and flavonoids which help prevent LDL ¡ bad cholesterol from being oxidised and deposited in the arteries. Beetroot is virtually fat free and low in calories. It has an extremely low GL which means it is converted into sugars very slowly which helps to keep blood sugar levels stable. Beetroot has for many years been used as a treatment for cancer in Europe. Specific anti-carcinogens are bound to the red coloring matter which supposedly helps fight against cancer and beetroot also increases the uptake of oxygen by as much as 400 percent. Beetroot purifies the blood in general. Cooked beetroot is a great source of folate which is required during pregnancy.
Source: http://www.organicfood.com.au/Content_Common/pg-beetroot-information.seo