Beetroot Dal

Beetroot Dal - well, what's so special about this dal?! Besides beets & lentils, this dal also has beet stem and greens. All these days I have been trashing away beet greens without knowing that they are edible, how ignorant of me?! But, when I saw this recipe here, my whole perspective about beet greens changed. I just had one bunch of beets in my pantry, and I decided to put them to best use along with the beets & lentils.

So, my first time cooking with beet stem & leaves and it turned out pretty good! And, I know I will be making it again & again. Oh, how I wish back all of those fresh stem & leaves that I have been outrightly trashing without knowing how to use them!

You can also make this dal with just the greens & stems (refer to the original recipe) and skip beets (as in vegetable) altogether, for which you will need about 3-5 bunches of beets. You could also use masoor dal in place of moong dal. All in all, this is one hearty & healthy recipe that pairs up so well with roti/rice.

Method

Complexity - Medium

Prep time - 30 mins (includes chopping vegetables, pressure cooking moong dal & beetroot)

Cook time - 20 mins

Serves - 4-5

Adapted from Edible Garden

Ingredients

A bunch of beetroot with stem & leaves (I had 3 medium beets in my bunch)

3/4 cup Moong dal

3 Thai green chillies

3 medium sized tomatoes

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Red chilli powder

1/4 tsp Hing

Salt to taste

2 tsp Oil

1/8 cup chopped cilantro

Method

Pressure cook 3/4 cup of moong dal in 1.5 cups of water (upto 2 whistles) and keep it ready.

Cut beetroots off of the stem, wash, peel, quarter them and pressure cook for 2 whistles. When ready, chop them into small cubes and keep it ready.

In the meanwhile, wash the stem & leaves of beetroot thoroughly and chop them finely.

In a saucepan, heat 2 tsp of oil. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, crackle cumin seeds, saute green chillies for couple of mins. Add tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, hing, 1/2 tsp salt and saute until the tomatoes are completely cooked and raw smell of chilli powder is gone.

Add chopped stem & leaves of beets and saute until the leaves wilt. Add chopped beets, 3/4 cup of water, salt and give it a good mix. Let everything cook together on medium for 8-10 mins.

Finally, add moong dal and mix well. Adjust salt if required and let it boil for another 3-5 mins and remove from heat.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve it with rice/roti.

Notes
- Sending this off to Made with Love Mondays!