Beetroot chutney
Updated: August 30, 2022, By Swasthi
Beetroot chutney is a delicious blend of beets, lentils, spices and herbs. It is a healthy and nutritious side which you can eat with snacks, breakfasts, wraps, parathas, rice, roti or sandwiches. Goes well with anything! Even with idli, dosa, pesarattu, Pongal or khichdi. This Andhra style beetroot pachadi is not only healthy but it also tastes delicious with just any thing as a side. It tastes slightly spicy, sweet & tangy so will be loved by anyone.
My family loves beetroot so I use it often to make salads, stir fry, pulao, raita, curry, kootu, sambar, halwa, juice and smoothies. Mostly I use it raw or lightly sauteed to retain the nutrients in the beets.
This beetroot chutney is made in Andhra style just like any other vegetable chutney made in Andhra cuisine. Most times I pack it in the lunch box for the kids along with paratha or phulka.
To make this beetroot chutney, I have sauteed chopped beets lightly in a pan to make them slightly tender. But they can also be steamed in a steamer & used.
You can also grate it in a processor and use. This recipe is a basic version & you can make so many variations like adding some coconut or onions to it.
Beetroot chutney gets a good flavor from roasted chana dal and urad dal. They can be replaced with peanuts or white sesame seeds. Tamarind paste is used to give a mild tang to the chutney.
Since I do not favor tamarind much in my foods I have used lemon juice. Also lemon juice removes the strong smell of beetroot.
I have used a mix of green and red chilies, you can replace one of them with the other to suit your taste.
More Chutney recipes
Tomato chutney
Carrot chutney
Tomato pachadi
Sorakaya pachadi
Photo Guide
Preparation for beetroot pachadi
1. Heat a pan with little oil. Fry dal till lightly golden. Add green chilies, red chilies, curry leaves, garlic or ginger. Switch off the stove when the red chilies are roasted and curry leaves turn crisp.
2. Add cumin to the hot pan and stir everything well. You can set aside little of this for garnish or for seasoning towards the end. Cool the roasted ingredients completely.
3. To the same pan, add grated or cubed beetroot. If grated beetroot, just saute for 2 minutes. Cubed beets need to be sauted for about 4 to 5 minutes or till they get discolored.
How to make beetroot chutney
4. Add the cooled ingredients and blend to a smooth or coarse chutney to suit your liking. We don’t need to add water, moisture from beetroot is enough to keep the chutney moist.
5. Lastly add lemon juice and blend once more.
Garnish beetroot chutney with seasoning that was set aside. Serve with rice, paratha or chapathi.
For more Beetroot recipes check
Kerala beetroot thoran
Beetroot paratha
Simple beetroot stir fry
Beetroot pulao
Quick beetroot halwa
Beetroot apple smoothie
Recipe card
Beetroot chutney (Beetroot pachadi)
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1 to 1 ½ cups beetroot chopped or grated
- 1 to 2 green chilies (adjust to taste)
- 2 to 3 red chilies or replace with green chilies
- 1 sprig curry leaves or coriander leaves (cilantro)
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 pod garlic or ½ inch ginger
- 1 ½ tsp chana dal (bengal gram) (or 1 tbsp peanuts)
- 1 ½ tsp urad dal (skinned black gram) (or 1 tbsp peanuts)
- salt as needed
- 1 tbsp oil
- lemon juice or tamarind paste as needed
Instructions
Preparation for beetroot pachadi
- Heat a pan with oil. When the oil, turns hot add the urad dal and chana da or peanuts. Fry them until golden and aromatic. Then add curry leaves, garlic, red chilies and green chilies.
- Fry until the leaves turn crispy. You can set aside few curry leaves, dal and spices from the final garnishing. Set aside to cool.
- Fry the beetroot in the pan for 2 to 5 minutes until slightly tender. You can also cover and cook on a low heat until tender.
Making beetroot chutney
- Cool roasted ingredients. Blend everything well without adding water. The moisture in the beets is enough to blend it to a chutney.
- Scrape the sides and add lemon juice or tamarind. Blend once more until the chutney is slightly smooth or coarse to suit your liking.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the tempering that was set aside. Serve beetroot chutney with rice, paratha or any breakfast.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
Thank you 🙏
Followed to the T. Awesome result! TY
Glad to know Snehil
Thank you
Thank you for this recipe! I was trying to find one that approximates the one that my mom used to make and this was very close. The first time I made it, I used my Vitamix (blender) and it required a lot of water to grind. The taste was good but the consistency was off. We ended up eating it with tortilla chips like salsa. The second time, I used the Indian mixee and the consistency was just right. I added some shredded coconut to it and it was delicious!
Welcome Devansu
Glad to know! Yes Indian mixee or a small grinder is the best for these chutneys
What wonderfull food you should all try it
Thank you
I love all your recipes. And they always just work and are delicious. But not this one.
The beets did not come close to cooking in 5 minutes of pan frying. I chopped them, into small pieces, and followed the recipe. After 15 minutes, I added 1/2c of water, covered and steamed till they finally cooked. I’ll try grating next time — maybe that will work better. (Homegrown, just harvested beets. They’re very fresh and not at all dried out.) Oh well.
On to the rest of the dinner!
And thanks for all the other great recipes
-Lee
Hi Co Lee
Thank you! Not sure why? But I never cook beets and carrots with water. I cover and cook them on a low flame so they cook in their own moisture. If needed I sprinkle some water. Yes do try with grated beets. For this recipe, I don’t cook the beets fully. When they are partially cooked (slightly tender yet crunchy) I turn off the heat. Some beetroots smell too strong and they are just not suitable for this recipe.
Hope this helps.
Great.Good recipe.Even amateur like me learnt this.I tried this.recipe.I tasred good.
Best wishes
SA
Thank you
Hi Swathi
Love your recipes I made it and it’s delicious. My question how many days would it be good as I am planning to make more
Thank you
Hi CJJ
Thank you. If you do not add any moisture like water while making the chutney then it keeps good for about a week. Beyond that the taste changes but still keeps good.
Wow this makes such an amazing side dish. I used 3 star chillie and it’s a bit hot. Next time I’d remove the seeds. I used three good squirtsof lemon and it gave a nice tang to it. Love the colour and flavours of this. Thanks for sharing.
Welcome JJ,
Thank you so much for trying.
Nic e
Beetroot chutney is awesome.i tried it.ur way of explaining recipes is very nice nd keeping their pics step by step supb….
Superb
Awesome receipe
Thank you
Dear Swasthi,
This looks delicious and I want to try this recipe. I have beeroots in my fridge 🙂 , Just a couple of questions, to be sure that I will cook what you prepared;
1. schould I use green chillis with or without seeds?
2. I suppose, on account of the pics, that you used dried red chillis.. Is that true? My question is; with or without seeds?
3. I get only dried curry leaves here. How much should I use?
With best regards,
Sari
Hi Sari,
you can make this chutney with green chilies alone or with red chilies alone or even a combination. Since my green chilies were not hot (not even mild hot), i used hot red chilies too. Using too many green chilies that are not hot may lend a different flavor. You can use with seeds any kind of chilies if they are not very hot. Using dried curry leaves may not lend that unique aroma, just skip them.
Would love to hear how this turned out.
Sorry for my late reply… This recipe works always. Got also proper curry leaves. Excellent!
Thanks Sari
This chutney completely captures my imagination because of the ruby red colour and the lovely flavours you have incorporated through the use of chillies, roasted lentils, garlic and curry leaves. I too think adding lemon juice makes it more refreshing. Very delicious.
Hello Piyali,
Thank you. Have a wonderful day