You can't beet this curry

I used to live right in downtown Toronto and just down the street in Cabbagetown was an unassuming Sri Lankan restaurant in a somewhat ramshackle old house. I can’t remember how I first ended up eating at Rashnaa there but I do remember that it was a taste revelation for me and I have probably eaten there more than anywhere else in the city. Most of the time I would order the mutton kottu roti, which is a spicy, meaty, plate of wonderousness. When something is that good, why stray, but at some point I started ordering a side of one of their vegetable curries. Now they have a lot of the standard ones but they also have a few special ones that they don’t make every day, so it’s a bit of a lottery if they’re going to have them on the day you decide to eat there.

My three favourites are beet, spinach, and okra. None of which are easy to replicate. I have scoured the internet for recipes for all of them and tried a few but not had the best luck. This is the closest I’ve come to Rashnaa’s beet curry and is adapted from a recipe at My New Roots. Joy factor also ratched up as the beets came out of my own garden.

One of the things that I really like is the flavour of curry leaves, which are an aromatic leaf from a citrusy tree and are completely unrelated to curry powder. They are incredibly fragrant, and not at all spicy, giving off a nutty scent when cooked. They apparently also have tremendous health benefits. You can buy curry leaves fresh and dried in most Indian and even some regular grocery stores.

Yield: 3-4 servings

Ingredients

2 – 3 medium-sized beets
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
20 dried or 15 fresh curry leaves
2 green chiles, finely chopped
1 stick cinnamon
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. salt, plus more for finishing
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Peel beets and cut them into matchsticks. You might want to wear gloves for this to avoid getting bright pink hands.

In a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat, melt coconut oil. Add the mustard seeds, stirring constantly until they start to pop. Quickly add the coriander, curry leaves, chiles, and cinnamon, stir well, and fry for a minute.

Add the onion and saute until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another minute.

Add beets, salt, and coconut milk, bring to a simmer, reduce heat low and cover. Simmer gently so the coconut milk doesn’t split, for about 20 minutes until the beets are fork tender.

Once the beets are done, turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice. Check your salt levels and then gently fold in the cilantro.

Serve hot with rice and any other vegetable curries you might like.

The beautiful beet curry along with a chicken in onion gravy, smoked eggplant and herbs, and a mushroom curry.