Easy Beetroot Curry
This vibrant beetroot curry could just be the perfect vegan dish for a Halloween night dinner. Serve it with some fried black rice for a truly gory experience. I kid, I kid! Maybe! But seriously, looking at this healthy Sri Lankan beetroot curry, it’s hard not to wonder “what died right there in the pan?”
In this beetroot curry, chopped beetroot is simmered in a well-spiced, creamy coconut curry sauce. It is thick and so tasty.
Let’s be honest, this beetroot curry looks a tad bit gory. It’s all red blobs and red oozy stuff… the kind of stuff that might fill your nightmares! Which just might make it the perfect dish to serve up for Halloween.
I would not be surprised if your first thought looking at this IS NOT “mmm mmm mmm delicious!”
But, that is exactly what it is. This fusion Sri Lankan beetroot recipe is simply finger-licking delicious!
If you don’t believe me, I urge you to give this recipe a try. I find this curry so tasty that many a time I have made it and enjoyed it like it were soup. Straight out of a bowl!
Some of the reasons I love this easy beetroot curry are:
• It is so tasty,
• It is filled with nutrients that make me feel good,
• It is creamy,
• It is plant-based, and
• I can make this beetroot curry with 12 pantry staple ingredients!
What are the 12 ingredients needed to make this beetroot curry?
The 12 ingredients needed, including simple spices, are:
- Red onions
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Fresh ginger
- Fresh beets (I used medium-size beets that were not canned)
- Coconut milk
- Tomato paste or tomato puree
- Coriander powder
- Smoked paprika
- Turmeric powder
- Cayenne pepper (or green chillies)
- Cilantro
- Olive oil (or coconut oil or vegetable oil)
A few tips when making this beet curry:
• Use full-fat coconut milk. When making curries, I prefer to use thick coconut milk (not sponsored, by the way). But, beware, some cans of coconut milk are not creamy – with shards of coconut. And, those would not work in this recipe. You could also grab a carton of coconut milk from the refrigerated section, where the other nut milk is sold.
• Sauté the onions, ginger, and garlic in a large pan first, over medium-high heat. This adds so much flavor to this dish.
• Do not be afraid to add in the cayenne. You could also substitute the cayenne for green chilies. Beetroot, when cooked, tends to be ever so slightly sweet. And the cayenne (or green chilies) balances off the sweetness of the beetroot beautifully. However, if you are reluctant to add in the cayenne, just add in1 teaspoon instead of 2 teaspoons.
• Cut the beets into small, bite-sized pieces. The smaller the chopped beetroot is, the quicker it will cook over a medium flame.
• After adding the beetroot cubes and other ingredients to the pan, make sure to let everything come to a low simmer over medium heat while keeping the pan covered. This helps cook the beets so they are tender.
From October 2016
Food has this amazing ability to unite people. To draw people close to each other. And, occasionally, a person comes along with that same ability. Maybe you’ve met a person, or several, like that?
Well, my daughter told me about this new student on the football team at her high school who does just that. She told me that even as a 17-year-old, this boy has a way of drawing players to him, of leading them without them even knowing he is leading them, of setting a tone of good sportsmanship on the field and off the field, which has led to camaraderie and more wins this year than ever before.
But today, today I don’t fall into that category of uniting anyone. Today, I am here to divide and conquer!
Okay, so maybe that conquer part was a bit too dramatic. But, let’s face it – when it comes to the humble, sometimes unsightly, beetroot – you either love it or abhor it!
I happen to love beets. A few years ago, I even did a “Beetified” series where I doctored up fellow bloggers’ recipes with beets!
In my humble opinion, from their gorgeous coloring to their versatility and taste, beets have my heart!
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But, back to this Beetroot Curry.
This curry is a spin on the Sri Lankan beetroot curry my mom makes. Traditional Sri Lankan beetroot curry is a more spiced sauté of beetroot, onions, ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, curry leaves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, Sri Lankan curry powder, and red chili powder, to name a few. It is a gloriously aromatic and delicious dry beetroot curry that is intoxicatingly delicious with a bowl of plain rice.
If red beets are not your cup of tea (or bowl of curry), you could use golden beets. Each variety of beets are such healthy vegetables, packed full of goodness.
A spin on the Sri Lankan beetroot curry of my youth…
The beetroot Curry you see here is just as aromatic and delicious, but, it makes use of ingredients that you can find at most grocery stores here in the United States.
And, I also added in some coconut milk to have a bit of curry because sopping up this curry with warm rice, roti, or bread is simply glorious.
From prep to finish, this beetroot curry should take about 45 minutes – if you prep as you go. However, if you prefer to peel and cut everything before you start cooking, this might take longer. However, as stoves differ in temperature, cooking time is sure to differ too.
What to serve with this vegan beet curry?
For a quick and simple meal, this easy beetroot curry recipe is a delicious side dish with some roti.
For a more elaborate meal, you could serve this vegan curry with some yellow rice or black rice and beans, some croquettes, and some mango chutney or apple chutney.
And, for a Halloween theme, you could serve this easy beetroot curry with some black rice, some baked purple potato fritters, and some pumpkin chili sauce.
Thanks so much for stopping by. If you make this recipe, please let me know in the comments below what you think of it, or tag your creation on social media with @savoryspin or #savoryspin.
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Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large red onion
- 4 cloves fresh garlic
- 1 inch chunk of fresh ginger
- 2 medium sized fresh beetroot not canned – approx 1 3/4 cups cubed
- 1 cup full fat oconut milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tsp coiander powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to season
- [Optionl] 1 tbsp fresh cilantro and 1/2 tsp pepper flakes to garnish
Instructions
- Peel and chop up the onion.
- Add olive oil to coat the bottom of a pan
- Add onion and saute for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
- While onion sautes, peel and chop the ginger and garlic cloves and peel the beetroot and cube them in bite-sized pieces as well.
- Then add garlic and ginger to the onion in the pan and stir until well incorporated.
- Then add in the cubed beets.
- Pour in the coconut milk and water, and spoon in the tomato paste as well as the coriander, smoked paprika, turmeric, and cayenne pepper.
- Stir until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Cover pan and let come to a very low simmer over a low-medium flame for about 25-30 minutes or until the beetroot is tender. Make sure to keep an eye on the curry and add more water as needed.
- When beetroot is tender, remove the pan from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and chili flakes.
- Enjoy with rice or roti.
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I’ve made this about 5 times now! It all started because I had so many beetroots from the farm and no idea what to do with them. Very glad I stumbled upon this recipe as it’s now a staple for me.
Loved this recipe. I used a full can of coconut milk, a can of tomato sauce, and about a cup of water, and added peas for color. Delicious with nutty brown basmati rice. Def adding to our dinner rotation.
After an hour the beetroot was still hard! The sauce was ok – had to do some quick veg and pour it over . Maybe ready cooked beetroot would have been better .
Just the curry I was looking forward to prepare for lunch today. Your page was God send or should I say Google send and held the promise of a delectable creamy outcome. I was supremely satisfied with the end result. Thank you, Shashi! To cut the time for cooking I pressure cook the beetroot, peel, cool and dice.
A beetroot curry eh? I must admit Shashi it’s not something I’ve tried or ever though of before. But why not? I mean we make curries out of all sorts of other veggies don’t we? And what amazing colours here. Perfect for the time of year!
Love, LOVE, L O V E beets! Both the flavor and the color — this dish is gorgeous. Haven’t had curried beetroot, but I gotta try it. I GOTTA!!! 🙂 Good stuff — thanks.
Such a unique idea to use beets – love this dish!
This is such a unique idea for curry! love the vegetarian spin – great way to change it up when I don’t want to use tofu or another plant based main ingredient.
I generally make a stir fry recipe or chips with beetroot. This curry looks really interesting. Will be making it soon.
Oh wow, that looks delicious. Color is amazing, so are the flavors. I will have to make this for my family.
All of the flavors blended so well together! Super easy to put together!
Looks delicious! I am a big fan of curries, but I hadn’t seen a beetroot one before. I am definitely trying it!
Can you make this with cooked beetroot?
I’m so happy I came across this recipe today! I can’t believe it’s vegan, it tastes so rich and creamy. My meat-loving husband had a huge bowl and then had seconds! We even used some as chip dip – loaded curry nachos might be our new thing. To the creator of this blog, thanks so much for opening my eyes to how easy a good curry can be to make. My husband and I appreciate it. This took 15 minutes!
Did you use uncooked beets or cooked thanks
Hey Jo, I used uncooked beets – just wash, peel, and cube them and then saute as per directions – thanks for stopping by – I sure hope you enjoy this.
I have never hear of a beetroot curry, that’s so intriguing! The color is so intensive. I bet it tastes great with some nan. 😀
Viscerally delicious! I can’t get over how delicious this sounds.
hahaha, “what deliciousness is this!?” was actually my first thought, but I love the “what died in the pan” comment! 😛 This sounds like perfect! *-* I need to go get beets so I can make it! <3
Oh. My. Goodness. Well, indeed I could have stopped here. That would have been my shortest and most coherent comment ever:) You know my love for beets as well as I know yours. I have mentioned a few (or 25) times I’m not a huge fan of curry, but it’s something I’ll give a try sooner or later (Sure, if you ship me some ASAP, that would be sooner):) Great job, Shashi!
What a great looking and tasty side dish 🙂
Wow! This sounds really intriguing! I love beets! I’ll have to try this!
This would make a great addition to a Halloween dinner party! So fun and full of flavor!
This looks so rich and tasty! What a great way to use beets! And for sure it could be a “scary” Halloween meal – if you use your imagination, because this looks fab!
I think this looks amazing! I love beets, and it’s one of the few veggies I can convince Vegas to eat with no complaints. 😉
Some people are just like that, aren’t they? They are so fun to be around and just brings out the best in people. That’s definitely the kind of people that are nice to be around 🙂 I absolutely love beets and love curry even more, so this dish is something I would really enjoy! Your curry equation sounds perfect to me. With all those delicious flavours, you really can’t go wrong, can you? Hubby and I eat some form of curry pretty regularly and definitely going to have to give this one a try next time. Plus, that colour! Cheers to a fabulous weekend!
This red beetroot curry for Halloween dinner sounds like the best thing ever, Shashi. And I would have never thought if something died in that pan, but now you have changed my views, so I could be little biased. 😉 Jokes apart, I mean look at that pretty red color of this curry. Who could say NO to this deliciousness? This is a stunner.
I SO did not think, “what died in that pan.” Lolol. I thought, “what is this gorgeous creation that is surely tasty bc Shashi made it?” Also, “what is this black fried rice business she mentioned?” Okay, that’s enough simulating hypothetical dialogue, it’s getting weird. Lolol. Meanwhile, this Beetified series sounds so intriguing! Look at all of those brilliant colors! Wow! The sound of caramelized onions, ginger, garlic, coconut milk, tomato paste and spices is just about all I can bear. Send me over a big batch–also, some of that black fried rice you mentioned. I’m SUPER intrigued! Hope you have a fantastic weekend with you daughter, Shashi. <3
Haha! Oh, beets, why do you divide the food world so much? This one looks incredible, Shashi! And I’m still chuckling over your comment about something dying in the pan. Hah! It does look like the perfect Halloween dish! Maybe we can put some gummy worms crawling around in there and some peeled grapes for eyes and some cooked spaghetti, too! Now I’m not saying the result would taste very good…but it has some potential for being scary! Boo! 🙂 Hope you and lil Shashi have a great weekend!
O love it! Bring on the beety-goodness! My favorite!
It looks amazing! I just love the colour…totally gorgeous.
Wow what a wonderful colour, I have to confess to not being a lover of beetroot but my wife lives the stuff. Maybe this one is a dish we can both enjoy 😉
OOh! I have never tried this! Looks amazing Shashi!
I’ve never had curry with beets! I love the vibrant color!
Very funny idea to serve this for halloween. I am sure it’s delicious regardless of what it looks like! 🙂
You are funny! I have thought the same thing when cooking beetroot dishes!!