Beetroot Kootu, Beetroot Dal, Beets With Lentils

          Whenever I buy beets, I usually make a poriyal or use it along with other vegetables in a kurma or curry. I've made kootu with it long time back, but the taste was not that amazing, so I never did it after that. I made the kootu again, couple of weeks back, cooked beets along with some dal and this time, spiced it up with black pepper and the taste was awesome. I've noted that black pepper ( instead of dried red chillies ) goes well with vegetables that have a sweetish taste like carrots and beets. And also, I have done the seasoning with coconut oil which gives a wonderful flavor to this kootu. It tastes great with some plain rice and pappads..

Need To Have

• Chopped Beets - 11/2 cups
• Moong Dal/ Split And Husked Green Gram - 1/4 cup
• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon, packed
• Black Pepper - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/ Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Coconut Oil - 1 to 2 teaspoons
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Grind together the coconut, cumin seeds and black pepper, without adding any water, it'll be like a wet powder.

          Pressure cook the beets, moong dal along with the turmeric powder. Once all the pressure is released, open the pressure pan and add the powdered coconut mix and asafoetida and cook for a couple of minutes.

          Then heat some coconut oil in another pan, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering, add the curry leaves and remove, add this to the cooked beetroot and dal, mix well and serve it over some hot rice and enjoy.

Note
You can cook the beets and dal in a regular pan, the pressure pan or cooker saves you time.
You can do the seasoning with regular vegetable oil or canola or with ghee also, but coconut oil gives an awesome flavor.
Can make the kootu as thick or thin as you prefer, increase or decrease the pepper according to your spice level.