Bend the Beetroot

“Beetroot is pink and not yummy”, Is the answer my 4-year-old gives me when I ask him about beetroot 😉?

Over the last few months, I have used beetroots to knead flours and make poor i’s. There were 3 big beetroots in the fridge and I had no clue as to how use them. I like it with my salad but I could definitely not finish 3 big ones.

Sharing 3 unusual recipe for using Beetroot:

1. Beetroot Hummus

Hummus is made from soaked and boiled chickpeas. It is a super healthy dip which can be used to eat salads, crackers, smeared on paranthas or sandwiches. Beetroot gives the hummus a silky and sweet texture.

You need:

Roasted Beetroot

Soaked and Boiled Chickpeas

Tahini (Can be home made or store bought)

Olive Oil

Aquafaba

How to make it:

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight and boil them well

2. Drain the water, store the drained water this is Aquafaba

3. Roast the beetroot in the oven. it kes about an hour to roast it well. The beetroot should be covered with foil.

4. Remove the skin of the beetroot and roughly chop it

5. Blend the drained chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic pods and beetroot

6. Add salt to taste

7. The best way to make a creamy hummus is to blend slightly more. Blend till it becomes smooth and creamy.

2) Beetroot Jowar Crackers:

The store bought crackers are definitely more convenient. But once you start making crackers at home, you will never want to move to store bought ones. Mainly because home made are much easier to prepare and It is a perfect snack to gibe to kids for school. It can be stored for a few days.

You need:

Boiled beetroot Puree

Wheat + Jo war ( 1 cup each)

Salt – to taste

Oil

Yeast / Active sourdough starter

How to prepare it

1. Make a dough using Boiled beetroot puree and the flours.

2. Use active yeast or starter and add to the dough

3. If the dough is too hard, add some more active yeast or starter to it

4. If it is too flowy then adding a bit more of dry flour and kneading it is good.

5. Cover it with a damp muslin cloth and let it rise for an hour or two

6. The dough would have risen in size to double its amount

7. Oil a parchment paper and roll the dough between the parchment sheets

8. Roll it to medium thickness and cut into smaller pieces

9. It is a good idea to roll the dough on a baking tray so it is not required to be transferred after cutting. Brush liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with dry herbs

10. Bake in a preheated oven at 200C.

11. Bake till browned or a little less than that.

12. Sourdough crackers tend to harden a bit after cooling down

13. Serve with hummus or hung curd dip)O

Sabudana Beetroot Panirayam:

Sabudana tikki is one of most sought after food especially during fasting. Tapioca is gluten free and is not a very rich source of fibre. Also a common complaint is that while the tikkis are being fried it absorbs a lot of oil.

A healthy alternative without compromising on the taste is making panirayam or appe with the tikkis.

You need:

1. Sabudana/Tapioca

2. Boiled potatoes

3. Grated carrots/ beetroot

4. Chopped green chilli (can be missed depending on the child’s taste)

5. Crushed peanuts

6. Grated ginger/garlic

7. Spices: Salt, Amchoor, Garam masala, coriander

How to prepare it

1. Soak the tapioca overnight in just enough water

2. Drain the water if any left, normally if the water quantity is just right, the tapioca bubs will soak all the water

3. Let the tapioca dry . Make sure you spread out nicely so each one is dried properly

4. Throw all the ingredients together with spices and add the dried tapioca to it

5. Make small balls. Just enough for the size of a appe pan

6. Heat the appe pan and pour sme oil/ghee. Put the small balls and cook on medium to low flame. Cover for some time.

7. Turn the side and cook.

8. The sabudana appe takes some time to cook so be patient and give it due time to cook nicely.

9. Serve with coriander mint chutney.