Beetroot curry with snake bean curry

This beetroot curry recipe looks and tastes amazing, and makes a really different accompaniment to other curries. These two curries served together with rice would make a really nice light lunch with lots and lots of flavour.

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Beetroot curry

• 500 g beetroot, tops removed, peeled, cubed
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• salt
• 1 cinnamon stick, washed, broken up
• 1 green chilli
• 5 cm piece pandan leaf
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 large red onion, peeled, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tsp white vinegar
• 300 ml coconut milk
• 100 ml coconut cream, plus extra to serve

Snake bean curry

• 350 g snake beans, ends chopped off, broken into small pieces
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 small onion, peeled, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 125 ml coconut cream

Drumstick leaf sambol

• Bombay onions, peeled, finely sliced
• drumstick leaves
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• black pepper and salt

Instructions

1. To make the beetroot curry, place the beetroot, chilli powder, coriander, salt, cinnamon, chilli, pandan and curry leaves in a bowl. Set aside. 
   
2. Heat the ghee in a separate pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Fry until translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the beetroot mixture, sugar and vinegar. Stir to combine. Add the coconut milk and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the gravy has reduced. To test if the curry has completely cooked, stick a knife through a piece of beetroot. It should fall apart quite easily but still have a slight crunch to it. Check the taste of the curry. If there is too much vinegar, add a bit more sugar to balance it. Add the coconut cream and stir to combine. Leave to cook until the sauce is thick and glossy. Remove from heat. Drizzle over extra coconut cream to serve.
3. To make the snake bean curry, in a pot, place the snake beans, chilli flakes, fennel, turmeric, fenugreek and cumin. Season with salt and toss to coat the beans. Add the onion, garlic and green chilli. 
   
4. Heat the oil in a separate pot over high heat. Add the curry leaves. Once they start to pop, add the snake bean mixture. Stir constantly over high heat until the mixture starts to caramelise and the beans are just cooked, making sure the spices don’t burn. Add the coconut cream and stir to combine. Leave to cook for a few minutes, or until the beans have cooked through. Add some thickened coconut cream and stir. Remove the pot from heat. Cover with a lid until ready to serve.
   
5. To make the drumstick leaf sambol, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Serve alongside the curries.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.