Beetroot Keerai Poriyal is a South Indian side dish prepared with the greens of beetroot – finely chopped and cooked with minimal spices
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Beetroot Keerai Poriyal
Beetroot Keerai or beetroot greens are the leaves and stems of the beetroot plant. Upon harvesting beetroot, farmers cut off and sell the greens and stems separately from the beetroot. Since they are leaves, their shelf life is not too long. So it’s unlikely you’ll find beetroot keerai in normal markets regularly since it’s available only during beetroot harvest.
This side dish of poriyal is a simple dish that gets prepared in south Indian households when these greens become available. The dish has basic spices such as mustard seeds, urad dal and turmeric powder.
The dish will have an earthy taste rendered from the greens and stems. You can pair this dish up with rasam rice or sambar rice or even with chapathis.
I bought 2 bunches of beetroot keerai when we went to Ooty recently. I haven’t found it in Bangalore anywhere but I will update this blog with the information if I ever find any.
Ingredients to make Beetroot Keerai Poriyal
One large bunch of roughly 300g of beetroot keerai should be sufficient for a family of 3. Since greens wilt fast and reduces to 1/4 its size once cooked.
The other ingredients are basic spices – cooking oil (gingelly oil), mustard seeds, split urad dal, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder.
As a garnish, I always like to add grated coconut ground up with a green chilli.
How to make Beetroot Keerai Poriyal?
Washing the greens is the biggest task in making any keerai poriyal. It’s best to always wash greens at least 3 times. You can also put it in a large bowl and fill it up with water. The sediment will settle at the bottom. I have one of those IKEA salad spinners that is extremely helpful in washing greens. Since I have a small one, I have to do the washing in batches.
The first step you can start off with is cutting the thick stems from the leaves. Wash them thoroughly separately. Allow them to dry for a while.
Cut the stems into small pieces and keep it aside. You can then cut the leaves. An easy way to cut them all is to stack equal sized leaves and roll them into a bundle. Cut the bundle vertically and then horizontally. This method of cutting has helped to maintain the pieces of keerai of the same size.
Place a large kadai on a low-medium flame. Add one teaspoon of gingelly oil. Once the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds and split urad dal. Allow the mustard seeds to pop.
You can then add the stems. Since they take a little longer to cook, it’s best to first cook them and follow it up with the cut greens.
To the stems, add turmeric powder, asafoetida powder and salt. Saute for two minutes and you will notice they will have gone soft. Check a piece of stem to see if it’s done. If not, continue to saute for another minute.
Once done, add the leaves. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt on top of the leaves – this will aid in the greens cooking faster. As you stir the green along with the rest of the ingredients, you will observe it wilt in under 30 seconds.
Keep stirring until the colour changes to a darker green. That’s when the greens are done. Turn off the heat. At this stage, the keerai poriyal is done, but I like to add a bit of coconut garnish. If you are keep read along.
Take a few pieces of coconut or two tablespoons of grated coconut in a mixer. Add 1 or 2 small green chillies to the mixer as well. Pulse grind the coconut until you have a coarse texture.
Add this coconut garnish to the poriyal and mix well.
Your Beetroot Keerai Poriyal is ready to be served. You can eat this dish as a side with rasam rice, sambar rice or curd rice.
Storage and Shelf Life
You can rinse the greens and stems separately, allow them to dry and store the greens in a plastic bag. The cooked greens will stay edible for the day but it is best to consume it within 2-3 hours of cooking, since it contains coconut. If you aren’t using coconut, it can stay on the shelf for a 4-5 hours. In summer, it’s best to consume it immediately or put it in the fridge after an hour or two.
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Recipe
Beetroot Keerai Poriyal
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Beetroot Keerai
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil (any cooking oil will do)
- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- ½ tsp Split Urad Dal
- 2-3 Dried red chillies
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- ½ tsp Asafoetida powder
- 2 tbsp Grated Coconut
- 1-2 Green Chilli
Instructions
- The first step is to cut the stems away from the leaves. Wash both the stems and leaves thoroughly either under running water or in a bowl until you see no sediment at the bottom of the bowl. Allow the greens to dry a little bit; you can even keep it under the fan.
- Chop the stems into small pieces and transfer them to a plate. Next, chop the leaves into small and equal size pieces. You can stack a few leaves, roll the bundle and chop them up to get even sized pieces.
- Place a large kadai on a low-medium flame. Add 1 tsp of gingelly oil. Once the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds and split urad dal. Allow the mustard seeds to pop. Add the dried red chillies and toast them in the oil for a bit.
- Next add in the chopped beetroot greens stems. This will take a slightly longer time to cook as compared the leaves.
- Add the turmeric powder, asafoetida powder and ¼ tsp salt. Allow the stems to cook for a two minutes. Pick a piece of the stem to check is its cooked enough. It should have only a little crunch.
- Next add the chopped beetroot greens. Add ¼ tsp salt and mix all the ingredients well. You will see the greens wilt as you cook it down in a low-medium flame.
- Withing the next minute or two the greens will completely wilt and change to a dark green colour. Turn off the stove.
- This is an extra step, but i like the taste of coconut and green chillies in keerai curries. I take a tablespoon of grated coconut (or chunks) and add it to a mixer along with a small green chilli. Pulse grind until you have a coarse mixture.
- Add this coconut garnish to the beetroot greens and mix well. Your Beetroot Keerai Poriyal is ready!
