Beetroot Halwa Using Microwave - Only 15 minutes!

Beetroot Halwa is the tastier cousin of Carrot Halwa /Gajar ka halwa. It is obvious because beets are sweeter than carrots and that means, you add less sugar! Isn't that healthier?

I made a quick dessert in about 15 minutes and the best part is that I didn't really have to sit (or stand) and keep stirring it. That's the microwave magic! Most part of it gets done when you're busy doing something else!

Beetroot Halwa!

Take the following -

• Beetroot - 1 (medium size)
• Milk - 180 ml
• Condensed milk - a little more than 1/3 can (A regular can is about 400 ml, so use 150 ml) => Low-fat is good too!
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Cashews - 8 nos.
• Sugar - 6 tsp (Reduce 1 or 2 tsp if you desire lesser sweetness)

 5 Quick steps -

1.  Peel and grate the beetroot into a big microwaveble bowl.

2.  Add milk and MW on High for 5 minutes. Let sit for a minute.

3.  Stir, then add sugar and microwave for 3 minutes. Let sit for a minute.

4.  Stir,  add condensed milk and MW on High again for 4 minutes.

     The mixture should now be cooked very well yet it will be a little runny. 

5. Take a kadai, heat ghee and roast cashews. Then add the cooked beet mixture and stir for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Switch off heat and let sit for 2 minutes.  It's thickened and pasty now, just like halwa should be!

C'mon lick it off, straight away! :-) This pic explains how good the halwa tasted!

Beetroot Halwa - Quick n Easy!

These quantities serve 2 to 3 people. Store in the fridge for a day or two (if there is any!).

Beetroot kurma (Beetroot masala)

The goodness of beetroot is that it contains no fat, very few calories and is a great source of fiber. Beetroots are a rich source of magnesium, sodium, potassium and some Vitamin C and its juice is said to lower blood pressure and therefore can prevent cardio-vascular problems.

We all know that beetroots taste sweeter and there is a particular variety called sugar beet which has a high concentration of sucrose.

My mum-in-law leveraged on the attribute of beetroots to taste sweet and combined it with traditional Indian spices and concocted a recipe that's also quite rich because of the addition of coconut and cashewnuts.

This is the first recipe I learnt from her and I've made it numerous times, given that my hubby loves it and doesn't take beetroot in any other form! It goes well with both rice and roti.

This is How She Makes It :-

Wash and clean 2 beetroots and 1 potato. Cut off the stalks from beetroots and scrap off the skin from the vegetables.

Make small cubes and add a tsp of finely chopped ginger. Now, pressure cook the chopped vegetables with some salt.

Don't worry if the potatoes take on the color of beets and turn pink too. When you drain the excess water, save some stock to add to our gravy later.

Heat 1 tsp ghee in a deep pan. Allow mustard seeds to splutter and then add a few cloves(grambu) and fennel seeds (sombu).  Meanwhile, make a paste out of onions, bayleaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, poppy seeds(khus-khus).

Add this onion + spices paste to the pan. This should get cooked well. We do not want the raw smell of onions in our dish.

Add ginger-garlic paste to this and pour the juice of 2 tomatoes.

Mix well and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Now is the time to add the boiled vegetables. Sprinkle salt, red chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric powder, as necessary. You can add the stock now if the mixture looks too dry. Mix well and keep the pan covered for 10-12 minutes. 

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Now, grind together 3 tbsp of grated coconut along with 10-12 cashewnuts and be ready.

Open the pan and check for salt and spice level. Finally, add the cashew + coconut paste and stir for 3-5 minutes. Your beetroot kurma is ready to eat :)

This is a good way to make kids eat beetroots. Optionally, you can increase the quantity of potatoes.

Hope you try this and your family likes it too :)