Shopping at farmers markets is a great experience. Here, the atmosphere and the hungama usually resembles a pelli-chupula party than a humble raitu bazar. The bridegroom is the fresh produce and the merchants are the proud papas and mamas.
“We did nothing but best for our produce. Actual soil, real Sun and no chemical sprays. It’s all ORGANIC.” They boast.
“How much? 10? What? Are these for real?”, a skeptical smile.
“Do you want nutrient-rich experience and a blessed, healthy life or not?” The looks say it all.
“How can a poor man stand such times and live?” No such soulful cry from the surrounding performing artists.
Natural yet painfully artificial, it’s different kind of atmosphere here. But the lure of open air shopping is irresistible, so I go. In between the greediness, there are always few good stalls with decent prices. At one such stall, I purchased the gold and red beets last weekend. I have added the kobbari kaaram and prepared a curry for meal today. With kobbari kaaram at hand, it’s real easy to create a multitude of habit forming dishes. And, the sweet beets love the spicy kobbari kaaram touch.
Gold and Red ~ Beaming Beets
Recipe:
Gold and red beetroots :
Peel, cut to thin rings and then dice to small pieces, like shown in the image, one cup each
Chana dal – 2 tbs, presoaked in water for 30 minutes beforehand
(added for it’s sugar-control properties and nutty crunchiness)
Kobbari Kaaram – 4 tablespoons
Turmeric and salt to taste or ½ teaspoon each
For popu or tadka: 1 tablespoon ghee, a curry leaves sprig and
¼ tsp each -cumin and mustard seeds
In a wide skillet, heat the ghee until a curry leaf tossed in it sizzles. Keep the heat to medium. Add the curry leaves and toast to pale gold color. Then, toss in the cumin and the mustard seeds. When seeds start to pop, add the chana dal and beets. Stir-fry for couple of minutes and then sprinkle about two tablespoons of water. Cover the skillet and steam-saute the pieces to tender, mixing in-between on medium-low heat. When the beets reach the softness you desire, then sprinkle the kobbari kaaram, turmeric and salt. Mix and cook couple of minutes. That’s it. A colorful sidedish would be ready to serve with rice, chapati or pasta.
Rice mixed with Gold and Red beets Curry, Mudda Pappu with Ghee and Pickled Cucumbers ~ Meal Today
oh! Indira, this is the first time I am seeing and hearing of this gold beets. Nice to see. Here in Shanghai we do not get it. By seeing the picture, I am tempted. I will make with the red ones.
Comment by vee. — August 21, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
Indira,
Going to your web site and looking at the eye popping pictures and mouth watering recipes makes my heart stir with passion towards cooking. Any day when i am down your blog soothens me with your poetry filled words and cooking style. No wonder u are the top rated blogger keep it up and u are helping us by giving us a new fresh culinary air.
Comment by madhuri — August 21, 2007 @ 10:56 pm
I like the analogy -‘Bridegroom and Proud Papas/Mamas’:)This is the first time I have seen a golden beet!That first photo is just eyecandy!
And Indira I have a surprise for you on my Blog..I hope you accept it!:)
Comment by Madhuli — August 21, 2007 @ 10:57 pm
Sorry forgot to post the link:
http://foodcourt.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/surprise-from-sweden/
Comment by Madhuli — August 21, 2007 @ 10:58 pm
Awesome pics Indira!
Comment by Suganya — August 21, 2007 @ 11:06 pm
Indira, I have never seen gold beets. Would love to try them sometime 🙂
And I also add different podis to my curries to bring variety into my cooking.
Thanks
Comment by Raaga — August 21, 2007 @ 11:06 pm
Golden beets! First time seeing and hearing about it! I cannot get it in Chennai. But this “kobbari kaaram” is such a nice bride I would say who can get along with any veggie and make a wonderful marraige 😉
Comment by Nirmala — August 21, 2007 @ 11:07 pm
kobbari karam is such a versatile podi – i think it just makes any vegetable taste good.
one veggie i cant stand is beetroot (yuck) but i love kobbari karam (yummy) – perhaps the two together might convince me to cook and eat beetroot!!
btw, does golden beet taste any different? not sure if we get it in india
Comment by lakshmi — August 21, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
Indira, really this picture is a classic!
Comment by musical — August 21, 2007 @ 11:34 pm
Hi Indira,
This Gold Beetroot is new to me… Curry looks nice. Thanks
Comment by Menu Today — August 22, 2007 @ 4:21 am
love beetroot and i love the colors of it. But what makes me sad when i cook them with red ones is no matter that color they are, the red ones simply dominate the rest, so the orange and yellow ones look good in salads only.This recipe is a little different from what we make, must give it a try. As usual, the photo is beautiful.
Comment by Rajitha — August 22, 2007 @ 5:46 am
It’s the first time I’m seeing golden beets. Pretty.
Comment by Jyothsna — August 22, 2007 @ 6:38 am
Woooow what a color of Gold and Red beets! Love them. I have been going to farmers market here at my place for quite some time now. But I am still busy buying gongura,erra palakura, beerakaya,kakarkaya,gummadikaya,neti beerakaya…you see:) Enjoying the sunshine here and the fresh produce! Yday I made your veggie gumbo and it was supereb! I hope its ok to express myself with few extra lines:) I always end up writing lenghty comments. Best Regards/Nina
Comment by Nina — August 22, 2007 @ 8:19 am
Indira,
wow Golden beets do they taste like red ones or like yams. I like your parody of pelli choopulu . I love to add dry coconut to beet, I must now make kobbari karam and try it this way
Comment by Sreelu — August 22, 2007 @ 10:00 am
What a beautiful pic! I had not heard of golden/yellow beets till I first saw it on another blog.Another simple recipe.Thanks 🙂
Comment by TBC — August 22, 2007 @ 3:03 pm
This is the first time I am seeing gold beets. They look awesome.
Comment by Lakshmi — August 22, 2007 @ 7:16 pm
Hi Vee: I often make it with red beets only. It tastes good, give it a try.
Madhuri: Such sweet words. Thank you!
Madhuli: Thanks very much for the lovely award. It’s quite an honor!
Happy that you liked the photos Suganya.
Raaga: Me too. Podi or spice powders makes it easy to spiceup the veggies.
Nirmala: . 🙂 What a lovely thing to say about beloved kobbari kaaram!
Lakshmi: Golden beets taste more like carrots than beets and they do not stain or bleed like red beets. They are good.
Musical, MT and Jyothsna: Thanks.
Rajitha: I agree about the red beet rubab. The red color totally dominates the golden one when mixed and cooked.
Nina: Gongura too. I am jealous.:) Where is this place?
I enjoy your comments greatly. And, it’s a pleasure to read about your culinary trials and triumphs.
Hi Sreelu: They have carrot taste, the sweetness is little bit milder than red beets.
TBC and Lakshmi: Thanks.
Comment by Indira — August 22, 2007 @ 10:38 pm
Hi Indira, I am a big fan of your vegetarian gumbo (and of Kittaya too). I did a search today using term ‘gumbo’ on your search functionality on the right top of this page, and I got irrelevant search results. Thought I would let you know about this–the Search is not functioning properly.
Comment by Sandhya — June 30, 2008 @ 1:14 am