Spicy Sauteed Beets

This Indian-cuisine-inspired recipe takes about 30-35 minutes to make, it's vegetarian-friendly and it's truly unusual. Once you make it, you'll never look at the humble beet in the same way again.

And be warned: this dish is spicy! I'll share a recipe modification below for readers who prefer a milder version.

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Spicy Sauteed Beets
(inspired by the Ahaar blog)

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons oil
4-6 medium uncooked beets, peeled and diced into small cubes
2 dried chili peppers (or 3/4 teaspoon dried hot pepper flakes)
1 teaspoon (whole) mustard seeds
1 pinch asafoetida (optional, see below)
3-4 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup water, roughly

Directions:
1) Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add mustard seeds, chili peppers (or hot pepper flakes), curry leaves and optional asafoetida, and lightly brown the spices on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes.

2) Add the diced beets, turmeric, cayenne pepper and 1 cup of water. Combine everything well, bring to a boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the beets are tender yet firm to the bite and the water is mostly cooked away (if the liquid starts to cook away before the beets are done to your liking, feel free to add some extra water). Serve over rice.

Serves 3 as an entree, serves 4-5 as a side dish.
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Recipe notes:
1) I'm sure readers unfamiliar with Indian cuisine are wondering what in the world is asafoetida. For me, it is the butt of an endless supply of sophomoric jokes here at Casual Kitchen. For everyone else, it is a spice common to many Indian dishes. Asafoetida can be well-near impossible to find in a regular grocery store, but any Indian specialty foods store will carry it.

Note also that asafoetida powder (sometimes spelled asafetida) has a strange and downright unpleasant smell. Do not be afraid. When used (sparingly) in recipes, it imparts an aroma and flavor somewhat like onions, leeks or garlic. If you can't find this spice in your community, you can either replace it with a pinch of garlic powder or onion powder or you can omit it altogether.

2) And one more thing about asafoetida: Rumor has it that this powder helps reduce flatulence. Not only will this spice be an unusual addition to your spice rack, it may add meaningfully to the bliss in your household.

3) You are also unlikely to find whole mustard seeds and whole curry leaves in the typical American grocery store. Again, any Indian specialty foods store will carry them. If you are looking for a reason to do some culinary exploring in your community, this easy recipe will give you all the excuse you need!


4) Finally, if you want a milder version of this recipe, use just one dried chili pepper (or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried hot pepper flakes) and also cut the 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper in half.

Related Posts:
Red Lentils and Rice: Two Cooking Lessons From A Cheap and Easy Dish
Curried Pork With Apples
11 Really Easy Rice Side Dishes
How to Tell if a Recipe is Worth Cooking With Five Easy Questions

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Curried Pork With Apples

When I published my linkfest of apple recipes last week, one recipe immediately jumped off the page: Curried Pork with Apples.

We're always on the lookout here at Casual Kitchen for recipes that combine regular ingredients in unusual and original ways (dishes like Groundnut Stew and our Mole Sauce are textbook examples). And I could tell that today's recipe, with a spicy curry sauce set off by slightly sweet and tender apples chunks, would have a lot of promise.

It didn't disappoint. And better still, this recipe is easy, quick (prep time is around 15 minutes and total cook time is well under an hour), and relatively inexpensive. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
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Curried Pork with Apples
(slightly modified from the original at About.com)

Ingredients:
1 pound lean pork, cut into 1-2 inch cubes (can use ground pork)
3 tablespoons olive oil

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons flour
1 to 2 teaspoons curry powder, to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or one clove garlic, pressed or minced)

2 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:
1) Brown the cubed pork on all sides in oil, on high heat, in a large non-stick pan, about 4-5 minutes in total.
2) Turn heat down to medium-high. Add apples and chopped onions to the pork. Saute for 4-5 minutes, until starting to brown lightly. Add flour and dry spices, stir well and continue sauteing for another 1-2 minutes.
3) Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for 35 minutes. Serve with rice.

Serves 4.
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Recipe notes:
1) We made some minor modifications to the spices; here's a link to the original recipe if you'd like to compare the before and after versions.

2) We ended up adding another 1-2 Tablespoons of flour to the sauce to get it to just the right thickness.

3) Make sure to stir the simmering sauce every 5-10 minutes or so, otherwise it may start to stick to the bottom of the pan.

4) The original recipe claims it serves 4-6, an optimistic claim if I ever saw one. Try "serves 4." But keep in mind that this dish is highly scalable and re-heatable and thus a great double-batch candidate.

5) Finally, a few thoughts on possible modifications that you can make to this dish. First, attention all non-pork eaters: this dish could very easily be made with chicken instead of pork. A vegetarian version could include 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of chickpeas or perhaps 12 ounces of very firm tofu (although I'd add the tofu in at step #3 to prevent it from breaking up too much). You could also add nuts to this dish to add an interesting layer of textures to the sauce--I'd consider 1/4 cup of mild-tasting nuts like almonds or walnuts.

Related Posts:
Shrimp in Garlic Sauce (Camarones Ajillo)
Spicy Eggplant Ratatouille
What's the Most Heavily Used Tool in Our Kitchen? Our Rice Cooker.

How can I support Casual Kitchen?
If you enjoy reading Casual Kitchen, tell a friend and spread the word! You can also support me by subscribing to my RSS feed, or submitting this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, digg or stumbleupon.