Beetroot Kichadi | Onam Sadya Recipe

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A vibrant, healthy and easy to make Kerala style Kichadi with beets and that’s what I am going to share today. This mildly sweet kichadi (not to confuse with upma kichadi or North Indian style kichadi) – yogurt relish is a must on Onam Sadya feast. Check out how I prepared it with beets in this post.  Jump to Recipe  |  Print Recipe

Kichadi and Pachadi form an integral part of Kerala sadya thali. I posted vellarikai pachadi/cucumber pachadi a couple of years ago, but it took me this long to post the kichadi though. I know, like vellarikai pachadi (again, not to confuse with the sweet ones), vellarikai kichadi is also equally famous. Wondering what exactly the difference between kichadi and pachadi?

Honestly, I could not find the exact answer. I have mentioned in my posts before that we have a lot of friends from Kerala. What I learned was every family has their traditional kichadi and pachadi recipe.  One of our friends mentioned that the main difference between pachadi and kichadi is the inclusion of mustard seeds while grinding. We grind mustard seeds for pachadi along with coconut but not for kichadi. Also, not all kichadi recipe uses coconut.

So far my vellarikai pachadi, I included mustard seeds powder instead of grinding it along with coconut. When I was further researching about the difference, I stumbled upon this blog, and they mentioned about the same thing (mustard seeds inclusion) as well.

For this kichadi, I did not use any coconut. I kept it very simple. I just cooked my beets and mixed it with yogurt. And, finally tempered it with mustard seeds, chili and few curry leaves in coconut oil.

Here is my beetroot kichadi recipe,

Beetroot Kichadi | Onam Sadya Recipe

Beetroot Kichadi – A vibrant, healthy and easy to make Kerala style Kichadi / Mildly sweet yogurt relish with beets.

Ingredients:

• Grated Beetroot – 1 cup
• Water – ½ cup
• Salt – ¾ tsp
• Sugar – 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Yogurt – 1/2 cup
• Coconut Oil – 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Red chilies – 2
• Curry leaves- 4 to 5 leaves

Steps:

• In a pan, (as you can see, I used my clay pot) add the grated beets and 1/2 cup of water.

• Cover and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
• Then remove the lid and add the salt.
• Let it cook until 3/4 of the water evaporates.

• Turn off the heat and allow it to cool completely.
• Once it is cooled, add the yogurt, sugar (if using) to the cooked beets.

• Mix well and in a separate tadka pan, heat coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, red chilies, and curry leaves.

• When the mustard seeds splutter, add it to the kichadi.

That’s it. Kichadi is ready.

Notes:

• I did not include any coconut in this. But you can grind coconut, green chilies and 1/4 tsp of cumin seeds and add it to the kichadi before adding yogurt.
• Sugar is entirely optional.
• Adjust the salt and spice as per your preference.

Beetroot Kichadi | Onam Sadya Recipe

Beetroot Kichadi - A vibrant, healthy and easy to make Kerala style Kichadi / Mildly sweet yogurt relish with beets.

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Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Course: sides

Cuisine: Kerala Cuisine, South Indian

Servings: 4

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

• Grated Beetroot - 1 cup
• Water - ½ cup
• Salt - ¾ tsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp optional
• Yogurt - 1/2 cup
• Coconut Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Red chilies - 2
• Curry leaves- 4 to 5 leaves

Instructions

• In a pan, (as you can see, I used my clay pot) add the grated beets and 1/2 cup of water.
• Cover and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
• Then remove the lid and add the salt.
• Let it cook until 3/4 of the water evaporates.
• Turn off the heat and allow it to cool completely.
• Once it is cooled, add the yogurt, sugar (if using) to the cooked beets.
• Mix well and in a separate tadka pan, heat coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, red chilies, and curry leaves.
• When the mustard seeds splutter, add it to the kichadi.
• That's it. Kichadi is ready.

Notes

• I did not include any coconut in this. But you can grind coconut, green chilies and 1/4 tsp of cumin seeds and add it to the kichadi before adding yogurt.
• Sugar is entirely optional.
• Adjust the salt and spice as per your preference.

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