Beetroot Moru Kuzhambu

          Moru Kuzhambu/Yogurt Stew is a favorite at home, mixed with rice and along with some paruppu usili, it tastes simply too good. Usually we add okra/vendikkai, ash gourd/pusinikkai, chayote/chow-chow or even vadas to the moru kuzhambu. Since I love the combination of beets with yogurt as in beets thayir pachadi/raitha, I wanted to try it out in Moru Kuzhambu. I have a couple of versions of Moru Kuzhambu in the blog, you can check out the links at the end of this post and I wanted to try out another version. I followed this recipe from here and used beets as the vegetable. The dish turned out really good with the nice pink color from the beets and we loved it with some methi/fenugreek leaves paruppu usili..

Need To Have

• Beets - 1 cup ( 1" pieces)
• Curd/Yogurt - 1+ 1/2 cups
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10 - 15
• Coconut oil - 1 to 2 teaspoons
• Salt to taste

To Grind

• Tuvar Dal/Split Pigeon Pieces - 1 tablespoon
• Coriander Seeds - 1+1/2 tablespoons
• Raw Rice - 1 teaspoon
• Green Chillies - 2
• Dried Red Chillies - 3
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Original Recipe here

Method

          Soak together the tuvar dal, coriander seeds and raw rice given under ' to grind ' for about 30 minutes. Heat a little oil, add the dried red chillies, saute, then add the fenugreek seeds followed by the green chillies, saute for about 2 -3 minutes and remove. Now grind the roasted chillies and seeds along with the soaked tuvar dal mixture, grated coconut and cumin seeds into a fine paste and keep.

          Cook the beets with a little water and salt till done. Then add the ground paste and the turmeric powder along with some water and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.

          Beat the curd well and add, if the mixture is too thick, add a little water and heat it on low heat till the mixture comes to a boil, then switch off the stove.

          Heat the coconut oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts sputtering, add the curry leaves, add this to the moru kuzhambu.

Other Moru Kuzhambu Recipes to check out..

Kerala Style Moru Kuzhambu
Okra/Vendikkai Moru Kuzhambu
Mampazha/Ripe Mango Moru Kuzhambu

Note
Other vegetables that can be used are okra, chayote and ash gourd or even dried sundakkai vathal.
Never boil the gravy after adding the curd, just heat through.