This mildly sweet beetroot kichadi / beets-yogurt relish (not to be confused with upma kichadi or North Indian-style kichadi) is a vibrant, healthy, and easy-to-make yogurt relish that is a must for Onam Sadya feasts. Check out how I prepared it with beets!
Kichadi and pachadi form an integral part of Kerala sadya thali. You can find cucumber pachadi/ vellarika pachadi on my blog. I know, like vellarikai pachadi (again, not to be confused with the sweet ones), vellarikai kichadi is equally famous. Ok, what is the difference between kichadi and pachadi? Let’s see that.
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Kichadi vs. pachadi
I am sharing what I learned from our Keralite friends about the difference between kichadi and pachadi, and I am not claiming this to be an exact difference. Every family has its traditional kichadi and pachadi recipe.
One of our friends mentioned that the main difference between pachadi and kichadi is the inclusion of mustard seeds while grinding. We grind mustard seeds for pachadi and coconut, but not kichadi. Also, not all kichadi recipes use coconut.
For my vellarikai pachadi, I included mustard seeds while preparing the coconut paste.
My simple beetroot kichadi
For this kichadi, I did not use coconut. I kept it very simple. I just cooked my beets and mixed them with yogurt. Finally, I tempered them with mustard seeds, chili, and a few curry leaves in coconut oil.
As I mentioned before, pachadi and kichadi are a must in the Ona sadya feast, and if you are interested in Ona sadya, do check out my Onam sadya thali post. Don’t wait for Onam to make this kichadi.
This yogurt relish is a perfect recipe for any season and a great side for any variety of rice recipe or with other rice and curries. And if you want to incorporate beets into your daily diet, this is perfect.
Ingredients required for beets kichadi
Beets: We need one cup of grated beets for this recipe. I highly recommend grating beets, either finely or slightly large.
Coconut: We need fresh or frozen coconut (thawed to room temperature). Dry coconut won’t work well in this recipe.
To Temper: We temper mustard seeds, dried red chilies, and curry leaves in coconut oil. Like any other Kerala recipe, we use coconut oil for this kichadi, and I highly recommend the same as it adds more flavor.
Apart from these ingredients, we need water, salt, and sugar(optional) for this beet yogurt relish. Check out the recipe card for exact measurements.
How to make beets kichadi
- Add the grated beets and ½ cup of water in a pan or kadai.
- Cover and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
- Then, remove the lid and add the salt.
- Let it cook until ¾ of the water evaporates.
- Turn off the heat and allow it to cool completely.
- Once it is cooled, add the yogurt and sugar (if using) to the cooked beets.
- Mix well, and in a separate tadka pan, heat coconut oil. Add mustard seeds, red chilies, and curry leaves when the oil is hot.
- When the mustard seeds splutter, add them to the kichadi.
That’s it. Kichadi is ready!
Recipe notes and variations
- Using coconut – I did not include any coconut in this. But you can grind coconut, green chilies, and ¼ tsp of cumin seeds and add it to the kichadi before adding yogurt.
- Other veggies – You can use cucumber, bitter gourd, okra, pineapple, or pumpkin instead of beets to make this kichadi. Whatever veggies you are using, cook them until soft and tender, add the yogurt, and do the tempering.
- Cooking the beets ahead – I have grated and cooked them in this recipe. But you can steam/pressure cook whole beets and then grate them. You can steam or cook beets ahead as a part of your weekly meal prep, grate them when needed, and make this kichadi.
- Sugar is entirely optional.
- Adjust the salt and dried red chilies as per your preference.
Explore yogurt-based curries
Have you loved this recipe?
If you try this beet kichadi, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. Please comment if you have any questions, and I will get to it ASAP. Follow me on my Pinterest or Instagram for recipe updates and simple Indian meal ideas.
📖 Recipe
Beetroot Kichadi | Onam Sadya Recipe
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup = 240ml; 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1 tsp = 5ml;
- 1 cup Grated Beetroot
- ½ cup Water
- ¾ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Sugar optional
- ½ cup Yogurt
- 1 tsp Coconut Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 2 Red chilies
- 4-5 Curry leaves
Instructions
- In a pan, (as you can see, I used my clay pot) add the grated beets and ½ cup of water.
- Cover and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
- Then remove the lid and add the salt.
- Let it cook until ¾ of the water evaporates.
- Turn off the heat and allow it to cool completely.
- Once it is cooled, add the yogurt, sugar (if using) to the cooked beets.
- Mix well and in a separate tadka pan, heat coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, red chilies, and curry leaves.
- When the mustard seeds splutter, add it to the kichadi.
- That’s it. Kichadi is ready.
Notes
- Using coconut – I did not include any coconut in this. But you can grind coconut, green chilies, and ¼ tsp of cumin seeds and add it to the kichadi before adding yogurt.
- Other veggies – You can use cucumber, bitter gourd, okra, pineapple, or pumpkin instead of beets to make this kichadi. Whatever veggies you are using, cook them until soft and tender, add the yogurt, and do the tempering.
- Cooking the beets ahead – I have grated and cooked them in this recipe. But you can steam/pressure cook whole beets and then grate them. You can steam or cook beets ahead as a part of your weekly meal prep, grate them when needed, and make this kichadi.
- Sugar is entirely optional.
- Adjust the salt and dried red chilies as per your preference.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Update notes: Earlier posted in 2018, now updated the post with a recipe card and added new subtitles.
oh wow, learnt something new today. Kichadi, i thought it is going to be a rice based dish! Beets is my favorite veggie! This simple kichadi is such a refreshing dish for the eyes and also for the palate!
Thanks :-)
Love the colour and it is so healthy…Sadya recipes are so simple yet delicious!
Thank you :-)
I somehow feel this recipe is far tastier than the coconut mixed one. This is what I was looking for under kichidi recipes.
Thanks so much
In traditional, authentic Kerala kichadi the vegetable (beets in this case) is cooked with a coconut paste, ground with small amount of mustard seeds and green chilis.
Your recipe is more of the classical raitha (some call it salad in Kerala) served with vegetable boriyani.
I hope you read my post completely. I did check with my friends and have mentioned not all kichadi call for coconut. I have a pachadi recipe for which I use coconut. There are so many variations and each and every family makes it in their own way.
what a gorgeous color and beautiful recipe
:-) Thank you.
I do Beet pachadi the same way..What a vibrant colour it has got..Just yumm.
Thanks :-)
What a colorful kichadi! We love this beets one, especially my lil one, it is his favorite beets more(buttermilk)!
Love the name beets more… :-) Thanks Priya.
That’s an interesting way to cook beetroots, I love the color beets gave to this dish.
Thank you.
Cant say how much i like this kichadi, anytime favourite and love that serving bowl, looks cute.
Thanks, Priya.
For a minute I was confused , I thought of the North Indian Khichadi , till you cleared my doubts . This khichadi has a beautiful vibrant color and looks pretty as well .
:-) Thanks, Vaishali.
Love the vibrant color of kichadi.
Thanks, Usha.
Wow lip smacking dish ?Gonna give it a try
Please do. Thanks much. :-) Welcome to my space.