5 surprising desi desserts you didn’t know you could make with beetroot

Beetroot doesn’t usually make it to the dessert tray. Most people think of it grated into salads, juiced for a detox, or maybe tucked into a cutlet. But Indian kitchens have a knack for coaxing sweetness out of unlikely ingredients, and beetroot is no exception. When cooked down with ghee, milk, or jaggery, its earthiness softens into something mellow, and its natural red colour transforms everyday sweets into striking centrepieces. Scroll down for six desserts where beetroot slips easily into tradition...

Halwa is where beetroot feels most at home: indulgent, slow-cooked, and fragrant. Start with 2 cups of grated beetroot and let it soften in 2 tablespoons of ghee, the raw smell fading into something nutty. Pour in 2 cups of full-cream milk and stir as it thickens, grain by grain. Half a cup of sugar brings balance, cardamom lends perfume, and a scattering of cashews adds crunch. What you get is familiar, like carrot halwa, but deeper - a glossy, ruby spoonful that tastes both rich and grounding.

Every home has its kheer story – but beetroot changes the script with its colour. Start with a cup of grated beetroot, let it soften in a spoon of ghee, and then pour in about three cups of milk. As it simmers, the milk thickens slowly, the beetroot melts into it, and together they turn creamy and rose-tinted. A little sugar or jaggery, a pinch of cardamom, and it’s ready to taste like dessert. Add a few almonds on top, and suddenly the everyday root feels festive.

Sandesh, in Bengal, is about restraint; paneer sweetened just enough, moulded with care. Add beetroot, and it becomes something else altogether. Cook beetroot until soft, then blend into a smooth puree, then mix it with 200 grams of kneaded chhena. Cook it slowly with ¼ cup sugar and a touch of ghee until it firms up, then shape into small rounds. Pistachios pressed on top bring colour against the soft pink. It tastes delicate, almost floral - with beetroot lending just enough sweetness without drowning the cheese.

Ladoos are often about nostalgia, and these ones manage to surprise without breaking the rhythm. Take 1½ cups grated beetroot, cook it gently in a spoon of ghee, and then fold in ½ cup desiccated coconut. A drizzle of ½ cup condensed milk binds it all together, thickening into a mixture that can be rolled between the palms. Each ball, coated in coconut, is chewy, soft, and faintly caramelised. They sit on a plate like little red delights - the kind that make guests ask twice what they’re made of.

Barfi is mithai in its most recognisable square form. With beetroot, it gains more attention. Two cups of grated beetroot are cooked down in 2 tablespoons of ghee, then folded into a cup of crumbled khoya. Half a cup sugar sweetens the mix, which thickens and pulls away from the pan before being pressed flat and left to set. Once sliced and sprinkled with almonds, the pieces shine with a deep crimson glow – no artificial colour needed, only the honesty of a root.