Beetroot Curry (Beetroot Sabzi)

This Beetroot Curry is equal parts healthy and delicious! Beets, spices and herbs come together under 25 minutes to a delicious stir fried beetroot sabzi. Serve this dry Beetroot Curry with grains like steamed rice or millets with a side of Dal, Rasam or Sambar. It also goes well with flatbreads like roti, Chapati or plain Parathas. If you are going grain-free, serve it with Quinoa and a Dal fry.

Jump To Recipe

1.5K shares

While you commonly find beetroots used in salads, soups and juice across the world, this beautiful and nutritious root vegetable is used to make curry, sambar, rasam, kurma, kootu and chutney in Indian cuisine.

About Beetroot Curry

This Beetroot Curry is made in South Indian style and is also known as Poriyal in Tamil, Vepudu in Telugu and is similar to the Kerala Beetroot Thoran.

Here are some beetroot recipes you may want to check
One pot Beetroot Rice
Beetroot Chutney
Beetroot Paratha
Easy Beetroot Salad
Beetroot Halwa

To make the dish, grated or fine chopped beetroots are sautéed briefly with a tempering of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, lentils (optional) ginger/garlic and curry leaves. It is finished off with raw coconut or a spice blend.

Green chilies and red chili (optional) provide the required heat, fresh ginger/garlic impart nice pungent flavors. Lentils provide a crunch and nutty aroma but you are free to omit them if you don’t prefer.

I always stock up on fresh curry leaves which I prefer to throw them in the tempering. However if you do not have, you may omit them or use coriander leaves at the last step for a fresh herby flavor.

Traditionally this beetroot curry is finished off with a handful of raw grated coconut. If that is not your thing, you can leave out that or replace with unsweetened coconut flakes/ dehydrated coconut meat or even with a splash of thick coconut milk, which also adds a little moisture to your dish. Alternately you can also use flaxseed podi, idli podi or spiced peanut powder.

More similar recipes
Sweet Potato Stir Fry
Radish Stir Fry
Carrot Poriyal
Bhindi Fry
Cauliflower Stir Fry

Photo Guide

How to make Beetroot Curry (Stepwise Photos)

1. Wash 2 medium sized beetroots well under running water and peel them. Cut them to quarters. Grate using a large hole grater or chop finely which ever is comfortable. You can also use a food processor to grate or a onion chopper to chop.

2. On a medium flame, heat 1½ tablespoons oil or ghee in a pan. Add

• ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 sprig curry leaves (pat dry first)
• 1 dried red chili broken – optional
• 1 teaspoon skinned black gram (urad dal, optional)
• 1 teaspoon bengal gram (chana dal, optional).

Let the lentils turn golden & aromatic, then add

• 2 green chilies chopped or slit (or 1 tsp chili flakes)
• 2 garlic cloves or ¾ inch ginger (peeled, crushed or fine chopped). Saute for a minute and add 1 pinch of hing (asafoetida).

3. Add grated beets and ⅛ teaspoon turmeric. Saute until they are lightly cooked. If your beets are not juicy and are dry, you can cover and cook on a low flame. Usually chopped beetroot takes longer to cook. Cover and cook them on a low heat until tender. If they dry out, simply sprinkle water as needed and continue to cook.

4. Lastly sprinkle salt as required and ¼ cup coconut (raw/fresh frozen or coconut flakes). Sprinkle lemon juice or 1 to 2 teaspoons spice powder like idli podi or flaxseed podi if you want. Taste test and add more salt, coconut or lemon juice to taste.

Serve beetroot curry or sabzi with rice or chapathi. It goes well with rice and dal.

Related Recipes

Beetroot Thoran R...

Beetroot Rice Pul...

Beetroot chutney

Beetroot paratha ...

Beetroot salad

Beetroot Halwa Re...

Recipe Card

Beetroot Curry (Beetroot Sabzi)

4.98 from 87 votes

Simple beetroot curry made with basic Indian spices, curry leaves and coconut. This easy to make sabzi goes so well as a side in an Indian meal with rice or roti. It is aromatic, flavorful and delicious.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

1x2x3x

For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time6 minutes minutes

Cook Time15 minutes minutes

Total Time21 minutes minutes

Servings3

AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

• ▢ 2 cups beetroot cubed small or grated (2 medium size)
• ▢ ¼ cup raw coconut (or unsweetened shredded coconut)
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt (or as needed)

Seasoning

• ▢ 1½ tablespoon ghee or oil
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• ▢ 1 sprig curry leaves (pat dry)
• ▢ 1 pinch asafoetida hing (optional)
• ▢ 2 green chili chopped or slit
• ▢ 1 dried red chili broken – optional
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves or ¾ inch ginger (crushed or fine chopped)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon skinned black gram (urad dal, optional)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon bengal gram (chana dal, optional)

Instructions

How to make Beetroot Curry

• ▢
  Wash and peel beetroots. Fine chop (using a chopper) or grate them (using a food processor) using a large hole grater.
• ▢
  On a medium flame, heat oil in a pan.
• ▢
  Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and dal (optional). Soon the seeds will splutter, keep stirring and fry until the dal turns golden.
• ▢
  Next add crushed garlic, green chili, red chilli, curry leaves and hing. Saute till the garlic turns aromatic.
• ▢
  Add the grated beetroots and turmeric. Saute for 2 minutes.
• ▢
  Cook covered on a low flame until soft and tender. It just takes few minutes. If you use chopped beetroot, you may need to splash some water if they don't cook.
• ▢
  When the beetroot is cooked to your liking, stir in the salt and coconut. If you want you may also add 1 to 2 teaspoon of idli podi or flaxseed podi. Taste test and add more salt. Squeeze lemon juice if you want before serving.
• ▢
  Beetroot curry is ready to serve with rice or roti.

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts

Beetroot Curry (Beetroot Sabzi)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 233 Calories from Fat 99

% Daily Value*

Fat 11g17%

Saturated Fat 7g44%

Cholesterol 12mg4%

Sodium 569mg25%

Potassium 494mg14%

Carbohydrates 27g9%

Fiber 10g42%

Sugar 9g10%

Protein 7g14%

Vitamin A 55IU1%

Vitamin C 25.4mg31%

Calcium 55mg6%

Iron 3.1mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!

© Swasthi’s Recipes