Let’s try a very beautiful and colorful dish.   I admit I started admiring this simple dish quite late in my life.  Infact, its been very recent that I have started cooking it myself.  My mom used to do this colorful dish in winters using lovely seasonal beetroot and fresh green peas.   And I cooked it first for one of my Homestay guest, who comes and stays with us frequently every year and follows a strict diet with no onion-garlic, no Chilli powder, no potatoes and no tomatoes.  She gave me an opportunity to look for another perspective for serving Indian Meals.  Whenever I make her meals and serve the Thali ,it always looks so pretty and yummy with pure colors of vegetables and super pure flavors.

Today, I am using Ghee as the cooking medium to make the dish most flavorful (oil will be make the flavors bland).  This is what I always tell to my Jaipur Home Cooking Classes guests who do not wish to use Chilli spice or no onion-garlic (i.e. Satvik food) , to use Ghee as cooking medium.   Ghee is a flavoring agent in itself and will always give you best flavors.   So let’s do this NO SWEAT dish.

Ingredients (for 2 person)

2 medium sized fresh beetroot

1/2 cup of  fresh green peas (preferably)

1/2 cup of fresh paneer cheese

1 Green Chili (fine diced)

1/2 tsp Cumin and 1 bay leaf

1tbsp Ghee

Salt to taste

Chaat masala  or juice of half a lemon

Method:

• Peel and grate beetroot
• Start heating ghee, add bay leaf, cumin seeds and chillies
• Add grated beet, add salt and cover to simmer for 2  minutes.
• In another pan, heat 2 cups of water and give peas a hot water bath for a minute or two, drain and keep aside
•  Open the beetroot pan, toss well.
• Add green peas and chaat masala
• Add grated paneer on the top, toss lightly and serve immediately.

** for making the dish Vegan

Use Coconut oil instead of Ghee and substitute paneer cheese with freshly ground Coconut.

The dish best goes with Paranthas (buttered flat bread) or make the Puri. A super meal to carry in you office lunch tiffin.

Enjoy!!