Beetroot recipes: Pink pasta, Sour Kanji and pink hummus, here's how you can cook with beets

Ingredients:

Cooked chickpeas

Roasted red beets

Olive oil

Garlic

Tahini

Fresh lemon juice

sea salt

Cold water

Beetroots are loved for their versatility and their vibrant colour. They make for a good crunchy bite in salads and pickles too. On the nutritional front, these red tubers are rich in folate (vitamin B9) that is responsible for cell growth and function. Eating beetroots prevents damage to blood vessels and reduces the risk of cardiac disease and stroke. To consume them in various forms other than salads, here are 3 recipes formulated by Modi naturals that’ll soothe your hungry taste buds.

Ingredients

½ steamed beetroot

2 Tomatoes

2 cups penne pasta

Olive oil

Water

Salt

Cheese

1 cup milk

2 tbsp maida

2 tsp butter

Italian herbs of choice

• In a pan boil some water, add 2 cups penne pasta and add salt and oil.
• In a separate pan, pour some oil. Once the oil is heated, add the diced tomatoes. Add some salt, oregano and chilli flakes into the pan. Once the herbs are mixed, add the steamed diced beetroot into the pan. Cook until soft. Once cooked, let it cool down to room temperature. In a grinder put this mixture and grind it into a fine paste. Your red sauce is ready.
• In a separate pan, add butter, maida, salt and cook until it turns brown. Once brown, add 1 cup of milk gradually. Stir until it forms a thick paste. Add the red sauce to this white sauce and stir. Your pink sauce is ready!
• Add the boiled pasta to the pink sauce mixture. Mix everything well. Add the Italian herbs of your choice to this mixture.
• Garnish the pasta with a generous amount of grated cheese on top. Enjoy!

• Roast the beets and chop them
• Cook the chickpeas
• Put the chickpeas, chopped beets with any beet juice, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, cumin, and salt in the food processor bowl. Blend until smooth for at least 3 to 5 minutes.
• Slowly add 4 tablespoons of cold water during blending. Stop the food processor and scrape the sides occasionally.
• Add another 2 to 4 tablespoons of cold water if the hummus is too thick. Continue to blend until the hummus is smooth and creamy.
• Serve with an extra drizzle of olive oil on top along with parsley.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Brown Mustard Seeds crushed

4-5 large carrots peeled

1 large beet peeled

6-7 cups filtered water or enough to cover the vegetables

1 tablespoon salt

• In a mortar pestle or a grinder, coarsely ground the mustard seeds
• Chop the beetroots and carrots into long fingers.
• Put all the ingredients in a tall glass jar and cover it using a lid or cheesecloth.
• Place the glass jar out in the sun for at least a week. Stir the mix with a clean and dry wooden spoon daily.
• Once the kanji is fermented, it’ll develop an earthy tangy flavour.
• Eat the picked pieces of beets and carrots to enjoy later.
• Strain the kanji and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
• Pour it in a shot glass and enjoy its probiotic effects.

Also Read: Green Jackfruit and White Pumpkin: Lesser known Indian vegetables that are a powerhouse of nutrition