It’s ‘ready steady cook’ time in our house, the allotment is producing food faster than we can pick and cook it. I love it, it’s what growing my own veggies is all about!
Sometimes I need a bit of extra inspiration to figure out what to cook with my home grown goodies. And Das Sreedharan is a true inspiration when it comes to cooking South Indian food – a favourite of mine; mixing traditional with experimental, but always creating fantastic tasty food.
I was flicking through my Indian cookbooks today looking to see what the difference between a North Indian Spinach Bhaji and a South Indian one. And I came across his recipe for beetroot and spinach bhaji. Not a combination that I would have immediately thought of, but as soon as I saw it, it made terrific sense. The earthy flavours of spinach and beetroot with a sprinkling of mustard seeds and curry leaves and a hit of chilli. Delicious!
I cook and eat with my eyes (in a figurative sense!), and when I was preparing the dish the colours were dazzling, like jewels – think of the deep greens of the spinach / chard as Emeralds, the reds and yellows of the beetroot as Amber and Rubies. A gem of a dish!
I like to pick beetroot young, before they get to humongous and outsized proportions. Sometimes I like to eat them just with a dash of olive oil and a grind of black pepper. Other times I slow roast them with some olive oil and wrapped in tin foil, then peel and slice them. And serve them on toasted or crusty bread with a slice of goats cheese and a slice of beetroot.
Anyway back to bhajis.
I had cooked the beetroot by steaming them for 10 to 15 minutes until they were soft but not mushy
I had chard instead of spinach to use, but I like being able to swap ingredients around to suit what I have grown and what is fresh. I used roughly 2 large handfuls, which when cooked, chopped and drained make a small bowlful. Also the white of the Swiss Chard stalks add a bit of a crunch to this dish. I’ve played around with the original recipe in terms of ingredients and cooking times. I always find that vegetables I grow take far less cooking than any I’ve bought in a shop.
Beetroot and Chard Bhaji
Ingredients ~
- Approx. 200g of beetroot (6 small ones or 2 large ones)
- Chard and Spinach – a good 2 handfuls
- ½ an onion thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 green chilli, opened up and partially sliced – but kept whole
- 1 tsp of brown mustard seeds
- 6 to 10 curry leaves
- ¼ tsp of turmeric
- Vegetable oil for frying (I add a tbls of water when cooking so as to not use too much oil)
- Salt to taste
- Optional – 1 tbls of coconut (desiccated or fresh)
Method ~
- Cook, drain and chop the chard
- Cook the beetroot – steam for 10- 15 minutes until soft. Peel and chop them into quarters or batons
- Heat a tbls of vegetable oil in a frying pan
- When hot add the mustard seeds, and when they start to pop add the curry leaves, garlic, chilli, and sliced onions
- Fry gently until the onions are cooked and softened
- Add the turmeric and stir
- Add the chard and beetroot and mix well
- Salt to taste
- Cook for a few minutes until all the flavours are absorbed, you may need to add a tablespoon of water if the mixture starts to dry out too much, but it is meant to be a dry dish
- Add the coconut if using
Serve with either a dal and some rice, or as I did for a lunch, stuffed into warmed pita breads with some plain yogurt on the side.
Gardening Notes ~
Beetroot are a mixture of Di Choogia, Burpees Golden, Detroit and Albino
Swiss Chard, I wonder what it would look like with Rainbow Chard. Even more jewel like?
We’re growing food faster than we can eat it as well… we’ve resorted to jamming etc… This recipe sounds really awesome and inventive. Awesome.
Thanks! It’s a crazy time of year for growing and storing food. Busy, busy, busy – but very happy at the thought of goodies stored away for winter.
Loving your lavash bread by the way – a favourite. Thanks!