We asked Sri Lankan food expert Ranji from Tooting Mama to develop a recipe using our Ceylon Cinnamon and Golden Turmeric. The result is this delicious Sri Lankan Beetroot Poriyal.
Poriyal is the Tamil word for any fried or sauteed vegetable dish. The vegetables are diced or sliced and shallow-fried with mustard seeds, urid dhal, onions, spices, and coconut. This Sri Lankan recipe for beetroot poriyal is influenced by the traditional Tamil poriyal with the addition of our Ceylon Cinnamon to bring out its natural sweetness.
Ingredients:
- 500g fresh beetroot
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 red chili (de-seeded and chopped)
- 1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
- 1 tbsp urid dhal
- 16 Indian shallots, peeled and roughly chopped*
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cm ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh grated coconut, (frozen is fine)**
- 1 tsp Wunder Workshop Ceylon Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Wunder Workshop Golden Turmeric
Method:
- Scrub the beetroots, take off any excess mud and chop off the stalks.
- Put the whole beetroot into a steamer basket and place it into a saucepan filled with 4 cms of water. Put the lid onto the saucepan and bring the water to a boil. Cook the beetroot for 30 minutes, until tender. A skewer should glide easily through the beetroot.
- Take off the heat and allow the beetroot to cool. Using a sharp knife peel the beetroot skins which will slip off easily.
- Chop the beetroot into 2 cm chunks and set aside.
- In a large solid-based frying pan heat up the oil, add the cumin and mustard seeds, followed by the red chilli, curry leaves and urid dhal. When the dhal starts to become golden add the shallots, garlic and ginger and the freshly grated coconut.
- Now add the cooked beetroot. Stir through all the ingredients until fully coated. Now add the Wunder Workshop Ceylon Cinnamon and Wunder Workshop Golden Turmeric.
- Toss the beetroot again through all the ingredients, cook for another two minutes, then serve with rice.
Footnote:
- * Indian shallots can be found in Indian grocery stores. If you can’t track these down you can use a small finely chopped red onion.
- ** If you can’t find freshly grated coconut use unsweetened desiccated coconut. It cooks faster than fresh or frozen coconut, so add this at the end of the recipe with the Wunder Workshop Ceylon Cinnamon and Wunder Workshop Golden Turmeric.
Recipe and photography by Ranji at Tooting Mama.
