Beetroot Pulao with Fresh Turmeric, more fondly known as Pink Rice or Pink Pulao Rice, is a lesser-known Indian pulao-style dish. Beetroot, onions and rice are spiced to create the most delicious, simple nutritious meal. The spice list is a little long, but you can throw them in all together, so it’s super easy. Mustard seeds, red chillis, cumin seeds, black pepper, cardamom, clove and a small stick of cinnamon. This is an excellent example of how Indian recipes use a few main ingredients but take them to a higher level with great spice combinations. It’s filling, so you don’t need much with it – maybe a raita, a little yoghurt, and a rocket or escarole salad. You can serve it as a side dish, but it is flavour-packed – I would treat it more as a main course – like a risotto.
Fresh Turmeric and Beetroot Sauce
My adaptation of this dish packs a healthy punch by cooking a small piece of fresh turmeric with the beetroot. The two are then pureed together to create the gorgeous red beetroot sauce. I have also added a couple of aromatics and the garlic ginger paste. However, if you don’t have fresh turmeric – powdered is good. Start with a quarter or a teaspoon and then adjust according to taste.
Basmati rice is soaked for a good ten minutes while you prepare the spices. First, gather together all your spices, and then prepare a ginger-garlic paste. Fry spices, garlic paste, and onions in either ghee or a combination of olive and coconut oil. Cook until soft but not brown, and add three-quarters of a cup of coconut flakes and then the beetroot mixture.
Cook the rice with a small bay leaf for 10-15 minutes. Drain – if necessary, and stir into the beetroot mixture. Taste for salt and squeeze over the juice of a lemon. Cook for a few more minutes, and turn off the heat and the cover while preparing the salads.
And, of course, as with all our recipes, you can adapt it. You may want to tone down the garlic or chilli, especially if you want it for a packed lunch. Fresh coriander can be swapped for mint, or as per Swasthi’s recipe, you can add peas or chickpeas.
It also works well cold, so it’s perfect for a lunch box – dressed with a squeeze of lemon or orange.
For more rice recipes, click here
Beetroot Pulao with Fresh Turmeric
Equipment
- 1 mini food processor – chopper or spice grinder
Ingredients
- 180 – 200 g beetroots about 1 or 2 medium beets
- 3 cm piece of fresh turmeric ½ tsp powdered
- 1 cup basmati rice soaked for 15 minutes
- 2 onions, finely sliced
- 3 cm piece of fresh ginger
- 1 large garlic clove
- ½ cup coconut flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- coconut and olive oil (or ghee) *see notes
Spices
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 2 cloves
- 3 cm cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 4-5 small dried red chillis
- 1 tsp black pepper corns
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
Garnish
- ½-1 lemon – juiced
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander or fresh mint
- 1 tbsp almond flakes or cashew nuts optional
Instructions
- Boil the beetroots with the turmeric until tender. Peel as soon as they are cool enough to handle.
- Cook the soaked rice for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Reserve a little of the cooking liquid – or pinch a little to make the paste in the next step.
- Put the garlic and ginger into a mini chopper and grind them into a paste – add a little rice water – if necessary, to soften it.
- Saute the onions in a large, heavy pan in a mixture of olive oil & coconut oil, or ghee; as soon as they start to soften, add the bay leaf, spices and coconut flakes. Add the garlic paste. Fry until soft.
- Meanwhile, add the beetroots and turmeric to the mini chopper (no need to wash!) and whizz into a rough paste. Add a little more rice water if necessary. Add to the onion mixture – turn down the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the rice until it is fully coated in the pink sauce. Squeeze over the lemon juice and leave to stand while you prepare the garnish.
- Toast the nuts in a dry frying pan until golden. Fork into the rice and garnish with fresh coriander. Delicious with yoghurt and a green salad.
Reader Interactions