Love naturally colourful food? Well, then here’s a recipe you don’t want to miss out on! In anticipation of the festival of colours, I was in the mood for some creative exploration in the kitchen this weekend, I suddenly remembered a colourful raita (yogurt dip) I had at a friend’s place many years ago

Holi being a celebration of colours, the deep pink from the beets was just what was required to do the trick. In the South (some parts of Karnataka) we call this recipe a Mosaru Bajji. It’s versatile and one can use cooked potatoes, daikon, cucumbers or beets and it works wonderfully well if paired with hot chapatis or seamed rice

The best part is that it takes minutes to put together 🙂

Cook time: 3-5mins                                                                     Prep time: 10mins

Ingredients:

• Quarter of a teaspoon of mustard seeds
• Quarter of a teaspoon of cumin seeds
• Quarter of a teaspoon of urad dal
• 1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
• A pinch of asafoetida
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons of cooking oil
• 1 small beetroot
• 1 small daikon or white radish
• 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
• 1 fresh green chilli
• 250 grams of natural yogurt

Wash and peel the skins of the daikon and beetroot, then grate. Finely chop chilli

To a small wok on high heat add oil, once hot add asafoetida, cumin, mustard, urad dal, curry leaves, grated ginger and green chilli. Sauté and allow to release aroma. This may take about a minute or less. Bring the heat down to low, immediately add the grated daikon and beets, sauté for another 2mins and turn the heat off.

In a bowl, lightly whisk the yogurt using a fork then add to wok and mix well

Serve with hot chapatis or a hot bowl steamed rice, enjoy!

Happy Holi! 

Note: Try not to over cook the daikon and beet, remember the ideal texture is slightly cooked but still crunchy.