Beetroot Palle Ghashi or Konkani Style Beet Greens Coconut Curry with Garlic! Simple, easy but healthy and totally vegan coconut curry with fresh beet greens.
Beetroot is one of those super foods which do not get the limelight it deserves. Filled with immune boosting nutrients, great at lowering blood pressure, full of dietary fiber, and a plethora of vitamins your body needs, it should be served on every dinner table.
Add it to salads, make soups, blitz to make a ketchup or like I have done, rustle up a quick and simple coconut curry which we love to mix with rice and savor any time we want a side dish.
My favorite part of the beets is the greens that come attached with it. Don’t they look fresh, healthy and so inviting?
Did you know they are chock full of antioxidants, are high in vitamin B6, low in fat and cholesterol and full of minerals and fiber? So, why do you want to throw them away and use just the beetroots?
Most of the grocers just cut them off before trying to sell the beets. So, when I come across a large bunch of beetroots with the greens attached, I grab them before he can cut them off!
Once chopped and cooked, they taste almost like cooked spinach or any other cooked greens you love.
So, today, I am sharing a typical Konkani style (from the southern part of India) coconut curry. Beet greens are washed clean, chopped and cooked in a pressure cooker until just soft. You can use an instant pot or cook it over a stove top too! For some color, texture and more fiber, add some chopped fresh beetroot along with the greens.
I have used a pressure cooker to fasten the cooking of the beets and beet greens.
You can use either the stove top pressure cooker or Instant Pot (pressure cook on HIGH just 2 minutes).
For the coconut curry, just make a fine paste of coconut, roasted dry red chilies and tamarind (for the hint of sourness) and add to the cooked greens.
This same coconut masala can be used to many more dishes using legumes, beans, veggies etc.!
Give it a boil and this now needs a tempering which all coconut curries or chutneys need to amp up the flavor!
Most temperings need some coconut oil with either garlic or mustard seeds.
For this dish called “ghashi” in Konkani, use crushed garlic.
Just smash the garlic with the flat end of a large knife along with the skin. Traditionally, we use only crushed garlic; brings out the best flavor of garlic.
If the garlic pods are large, just peel and chop them. Either way, the fried garlic gives a lovely aroma to the whole dish.
Another variation of this is is using onions.
If you love onions, then you must try beet greens coconut curry using onions in the curry and as a tempering too; Beet Greens Ambat, another favorite of ours!
Mix well and serve this amazing, healthy, totally vegan garlic flavored Beet Greens Coconut Curry or Beetroota Palle (leaves) Ghashi with hot steamed rice or with some Indian flatbread or even toasted bread!
BEET AND RADHISH GREENS GHASHI (Updated March 16, 2023):
My local grocer this time had super fresh organic beetroot with absolutely gorgeous greens still attached and to my excitement, the small red radishes which I normally get to use in salads had fresh greens attached too!
So, I wasted no time in making my favorite ghashi using these fresh greens!
Happy Cooking!
Enjoy these other beetroot dishes I have cooked up in my kitchen:
Konkani Style Beet Greens Coconut Curry with Garlic! Simple, easy but healthy and totally vegan coconut curry with healthy beet greens.
Ingredients
- 1 beetroot, washed, peeled and chopped
- Beet greens from three beetroots
- ½ cup grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
- 6 to 8 dry red chillies
- 1 small marble-sized tamarind or ½ tsp tamarind paste
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed or peeled and sliced
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the beet leaves from the beetroots and use all the three bunches.
- Wash in plenty of water until clean and drain in a colander.
- I have used three large bowls filled with water, assembly style, dipped handful of leaves along with stems in each bowl, rubbing with your hands in each bowl, lifting and transferring to next bow. You will notice mud, sand and dirt at the bottom of the bowls. Do this until the water is clear of dirt.
- Drain in large colanders. Finally, chop them roughly including the stems and then transfer to a pressure cooker pan.
- Wash one beetroot well to remove all the mud and dirt, peel and cut into small cubes. Add into pressure cooker along with the greens.
- Stir in 1 to 1 ½ cups of water.
- Close the lid of the pan and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Let the pressure release on its own.
- If using INSTANT POT, pressure cook on "HIGH" for 2 minutes.
- Roast the dry red chillies in ¼ tsp of oil until lightly roasted.
- In a blender jar, make a fine paste of grated coconut, roasted red chillies and tamarind (or tamarind paste if using) with a little water. You can use the water in which you have cooked the beets and beet greens. No wastage of nutrients here!
- Transfer the contents of the pressure pan into a large deep saucepan.
- Add the coconut paste to the cooked beet greens along with salt to taste. Add more water if needed.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium low heat for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Meanwhile prepare the seasoning.
- Heat coconut oil and once hot, stir in the crushed or chopped garlic.
- Fry on medium until lightly golden and then add to the beet coconut curry.
- Mix well.
- Serve hot, spicy, vegan, healthy and easy Indian style (specifically south Indian Konkani style) Beet greend coconut curry or as we call it beetroota palle ghashi with some hot steaming rice!
- With a lovely side dish of fresh stir fry like green beans upkari or …. this is a simple and comforting meal I can enjoy any day!
- Happy Cooking!
Notes
If you do not like garlic, you can temper with mustard seeds, some hing/asafetida powder and fresh curry leaves.
Cannot find beet greens attached to your beets? Do not panic! You can make this lovely and healthy south Indian coconut delight with just fresh beets too!
Adjust the amount of red chilies according to your spice level.
Make it thick or thin by adjusting the amount of liquid you add, and you can enjoy this dish with any Indian flat bread or some hot cooked rice!
Make it now or PIN for later on:
I am sharing this with Angie's FiestaFriday along with cohost Antonia @ Zoale.com | RecipeoftheWeek |
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I love the look and sound of this recipe. Bookmarking it for use later. 🙂
We don't use beet greens in our day-to-day cooking at all, and I think this recipe is a great way to incorporate them.
Thanks so much 🙂 Do try this curry using those healthy, nutritious greens which normally are thrown away....you will love it!
A delicious and comforting meal! I agree, beet greens are wonderful! Thank you for sharing at Fiesta Friday!
Thanks Antonia 🙂 🙂 So excited and happy to be part of Fiesta Friday!
yesssss, with beetroot now flooding the markets here and the palliya with the beet tops kind of get boring, this is a welcome change. i am sure to try this out soon.
Thanks Seema 🙂 Do try this simple Konkani coconut version and enjoy!!!
Me and my husband both love konkani cusine. This will be in my to do list of recipe. Lovely share?
That is great! Then you and your husband are going to enjoy this ghashi a lot 🙂 Thanks so much dear 🙂
I usually add beet greens to salads or daals. This is such a lovely recipe to create a whole new dish with them. Lovely flavours! ?
Thanks so much Maria 🙂 Do give this a try; you will absolutely love it!
This is such a quick and flavourful curry to make with beets. One can use it with rice also.
Thanks Jayashree 🙂 Combo with rice is absolutely divine!
Looks so delicious, Love using beet greens and if they are fresh, I just pick them up to make a simple stir fry with coconut.
Stir fry sounds delicious too!! Actually, fresh greens stir fry is my absolute favorite; quick, healthy and feel-good dish! Thanks so much Freda 🙂 🙂
Though I love beetroot, I've yet to use it to make a curry. Your recipe is interesting and with coconut milk am sure it tastes really delicious. I too wonder why they cut off the leaves, as they can be used as salad greens too.
Thanks so much Mayuri 🙂 I guess they do not know the value of it's nutrients!! This recipe should be a good beginning to make use of beets in curries; do give it a try and enjoy!
Great way to incorporate beet greens....combined with coconut & garlic, this flavourful curry must have tasted great !!
It was absolutely divine Padma!! Thanks so much 🙂
I think i have commented on this post.
But since beetroot is one of my favourite veggies, as an adult I must say that this is new to me. I must buy some beets to try make this delicious ghassi
Thanks so much 🙂 Do give this Konkani delight a try; you will surely enjoy it!
Hey Vanitha just loved your way of using beet greens, very innovative! We too love eating beet greens, they taste awesome and are infact much for nutrient rich than beet itself but never tried out including them in our diet this way. Would love to try out your recipe 😉
Thanks so much Meghna 🙂 You must try this super easy and quick curry; you will love it!
What a flavorful way to use beet greens ! The coconut garlic curry with beet sounds very healthy..would love to try it out soon
Thanks Poonam 🙂 Do give it a try; it is a keeper!
Nice and different curry with beet root. Even the colour is so good. Usually the curry turns dark red but I think the addition of coconut makes a difference.
Thanks so much Shobha 🙂 I love the pink hue too!! Coconut makes everything tasty and amazing 🙂 🙂
Thats an incredible curry and simply love that you have used beet greens in this curry. Such a delicious fingerlicking dish. I can happily have this vegan curry with some rice and potato fry. Mouthwatering already.
Thanks Priya 🙂 Along with rice and potatoes, sounds like an amazing combo!!
I use lots of beet green and beets in my cooking. I like to try this curry soon. Looks delicious:)
Thanks Uma 🙂 Don't you love greens? So healthy and delicious too 🙂
What an amazing way to cook beet green. Loved it. A superbly healthy and delicious dish. Bookmarking it to try later.
Thanks a lot Sujata 🙂 Do try and let me know how it turned out for you 🙂 🙂
Sure Vanitha ?
That is such a delicious way to cook with beet greens. Love the use of coconut in this dish. Looks so nutritious and delicious.
Thanks a lot Pavani 🙂
Simple & nice variation of beet root !
Thank you Sharada 🙂
OMG, this looks amazing!!!! Lorraine and i love beet greens!!! wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much 🙂 🙂 I am glad you loved it; please do try and enjoy with Lorraine! Thanks again for stopping by with your amazing and appreciative comments 🙂