Beetroot thogayal or beetroot chutney made with lentils, chilies and the nutritious beetroot leaves adds a wonderful flavor to lunch or dinner. This delicious beetroot chutney works great with idli or dosai or mixed with warm rice.
Anytime we buy beetroot, we tend to discard the beautiful greens that come with it. Ever since we started growing beets at home, I have started using more of the nutritious beet leaves. We have fallen in love with the beet greens mildly sweet flavor.
Table of contents
I make beetroot leaves poriyal / stir fry and also make Beet greens dal tadka. I have realized that we can pretty much use beetroot leaves in any recipe that calls for spinach.
So I decided to take it a step ahead and use the beet greens along with beetroot. This beetroot chutney is not only nutritious but also tastes amazing. Not to forget, the beautiful color from the beets will make you come back for more.
Instead of chutney if you are looking to make a colorful dip, try this delicious beet hummus. It is not just delicious but healthy as well and tastes great with crackers, chips, or vegetables.
This week I am blogging about January produces and fresh beets with greens is found easily this season. So after my Pumpkin biscotti and Oven roasted butternut squash, this beetroot chutney is my third recipe for this week.
Why make this Beetroot chutney?
- Beetroot and the beet leaves are very nutritious and is a power packed vegetable to use in our regular diet.
- The vegetable is easy to find as well as to grow. The beetroot leaves grow like wild and can be regularly harvested through out the season.
- The beetroot thogayal is Vegan and Gluten free (make sure to use GF asafetida).
- The recipe for beetroot chutney is absolutely easy to make and takes just about 20 minutes from start to finish.
- Also if you are new to using beetroot greens, this is a great recipe to start with. Mixed in with the beetroot, we can easily mask the greens.
- This beetroot chutney / beetroot thogayal can be served with any kind of tiffin / breakfast like idli, dosai or pongal. And it also tastes great to eat with rice. Add a dollop of the delicious thogayal over hot rice and enjoy.
Ingredients and substitutes
Check the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact measurements and printable recipe.
Beetroot and beetroot leaves - I have used both the beetroot as well as the greens in this recipe. If you do not find beetroot bunch with the greens, you can substitute with any other greens or skip it as well.
Lentil - Urad dal is what we need to fry and grind in the thogayal and to season as well.
Dry red chilies - Use based on your spice level.
Seasoning - We will season out beetroot thogayal with mustard seeds, ullutham paruppu , urad dal and asafetida. If on a gluten free diet, skip or use certified Gluten free asafetida.
Tamarind - I have used fresh tamarind in the recipe. If fresh tamarind is not available, use tamarind paste.
Oil - I like using coconut oil when seasoning the beetroot thogayal for the flavor, but we can use any cooking oil.
Curry leaves - optional
Salt
Step by step process
- Start by cleaning the beetroot and the beet greens. Since beetroots grow below the soil, they can be pretty muddy and hence I find that soaking them in water and then washing helps. Check this post here to read in detail on how to wash and prep the the beetroot leaves.
- Peel the beetroot and grate it in a bowl. Chop the washed beetroot leaves coarsely.
- In a pan, heat oil and add the urad dal and dry red chilies (1). Fry it until golden brown and remove it on a plate (2).
- In the same pan, add a little more oil and saute the grated beetroot (3).
- Once the beetroot is slightly soft (about 5 minutes), add the chopped beetroot leaves. Saute until the leaves wilt and softens (4).
- Turn off the heat and add the tamarind piece to the hot mixture and let it sit to cool down (5).
- Once the mixture cools down to room temperature, place the fried chilies and lentil, beetroot mix and salt to taste in a blender / mixer jar.
- Grind the beetroot chutney until smooth (6) and remove it in a serving bowl. Add water if needed to grind. I keep my thogayal / chutney on the thicker side and didn't need any water.
- To season - Heat 1 teaspoon of oil (preferably coconut oil) in a small pan and heat. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal and fry it till golden brown. Add asafetida and curry leaves and mix once. Add the hot seasoning to the beetroot chutney and serve.
Expert tips
- Wash the beetroot and beet greens well before starting the cooking process. This takes a little time and once it is done, making the beetroot thogayal is a quick process.
- Adjust the red chilies based on your spice level. I like this beet thogayal a little spicier as it balances the natural sweetness of the vegetable.
- Let the ingredients cool down a bit before grinding for easy handling.
Serving suggestion
- This is one of my favorite to serve with hot rice with a drizzle of ghee or oil.
- Beetroot chutney also tastes amazing as a side for idli or dosai. My favorite dosa to serve this beetroot chutney is Neer dosai.
- We can also serve this as any other chutney with pongal or upma.
Frequently asked questions
We can substitute the beet greens with a handful of any other greens like spinach. The leaves can be completely skipped as well and we can make this beetroot thogayal with just the beets.
Beetroot chutney tastes the best when served the same day. We can refrigerate it and use it for couple of days.
Tamarind balances out the sweetness and spice of the chutney recipe. You could add fresh tamarind or tamarind paste or if both or not available, use a little lemon juice when grinding.
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Recipe Card
Beetroot Chutney | Beetroot and Beetroot Leaves Thogayal
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup Beetroot Grated
- 2 cups Beetroot leaves coarsely chopped
- 3 Tablespoon Ullutham paruppu / urad dal
- 5 Red chilies
- ½ inch Tamarind
- ¾ tsp Salt adjust based on preference
- 3 teaspoon Oil preferable coconut oil
- 1 teasppoon Mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon Urad dal
- 10 Curry leaves optional
Instructions
- Start by cleaning the beetroot and the beet greens. Since beetroots grow below the soil, they can be pretty muddy and hence I find that soaking them in water and then washing helps. Check this post here to read in detail on how to wash and prep the the beetroot leaves.
- Peel the beetroot and grate it in a bowl. Chop the washed beetroot leaves coarsely.
- In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil and add the urad dal and dry red chilies. Fry it until golden brown and remove it on a plate.
- In the same pan, add one more teaspoon of oil and saute the grated beetroot.
- Once the beetroot is slightly soft (about 5 minutes), add the chopped beetroot leaves. Saute until the leaves wilt and softens.
- Turn off the heat and add the tamarind piece to the hot mixture and let it sit to cool down.
- Once the mixture cools down to room temperature, place the fried chilies and lentil, beetroot mix and salt to taste in a blender / mixer jar.
- Grind the beetroot chutney until smooth and remove it in a serving bowl. Add water if needed to grind. I keep my thogayal / chutney on the thicker side and didn't need any water.
- To season - Heat 1 teaspoon of oil (preferably coconut oil) in a small pan and heat. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal and fry it till golden brown. Add asafetida and curry leaves and mix once. Add the hot seasoning to the beetroot chutney and serve.
Notes
- Wash the beetroot and beet greens well before starting the cooking process. This takes a little time and once it is done, making the beetroot thogayal is a quick process.
- Adjust the red chilies based on your spice level. I like this beet thogayal a little spicier as it balances the natural sweetness of the vegetable.
- Let the ingredients cool down a bit before grinding for easy handling.
- This is one of my favorite to serve with hot rice with a drizzle of ghee or oil.
- Beetroot chutney also tastes amazing as a side for idli or dosai. My favorite dosa to serve this beetroot chutney is Neer dosai.
- We can also serve this as any other chutney with pongal or upma.
Suma Gandlur says
This is such an interesting twist to south Indian style chutney preparation. The chutney sure is nutritious and must have tasted yummy.
Sandhya says
Thank you Suma!
Radha says
Great color in the chutney and love its nutrition too! We love these chutneys with dosa as well as ghee rice! YUM!
Sandhya says
Thank you Radha!
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
Love thogayals and makes a great meal. Adding beet greens to the thogayal is wonderful. Delicious recipe Sandhya.
Sandhya says
Thanks Vidhya. I am in love with beet greens.
Narmadha says
Beetroot thogayal looks so delicious and love the idea of using greens as well. So healthy and nutritious chutney.
Sandhya says
Thanks!
Lilia says
The chutney had the perfect blend of sweet, spicy and earthy flavors. Yum! I served it with hot rice with a drizzle of ghee and everyone enjoyed it. It was delicious and definitely something I’ll be making again soon.