We grew up relishing sweet fruity beetroot pachadi served in every wedding feast, it was an unforgettable experience for us to relish the beautiful reddish-purple puree infused with the flavors of native fruits. Nowadays, this traditional fruit dessert has not been included in the menu prepared for the feasts, and beetroot jam is replaced by vanilla ice cream with fruit salad.
Here I have tried to replicate the wedding feast featuring our traditional beetroot pazha pachadi served to the guests at my uncle’s wedding held when I was 5 years.
Now let us look into the recipe for the traditional beetroot relish:
Beetroot Jam Recipe:
Time taken: 10 min.
Ingredients:
- Beetroot – 1
- Ghee – ½ tsp
- Jaggery or any sweetener of your choice – as desired
- Cardamom – 2 Nos.
Fruits for garnishing:
- Mango
- Banana (I used poovan pazham, a small variety of banana)
- Apple
- Orange
- Green grapes
Generally we add the above mentioned fruits but you can add other seasonal fruits like jackfruit, guava, etc.
How to prepare beetroot jam:
- Peel and grate beetroot using grater.
- Transfer to a bowl and mix in ghee.
- Microwave for 3-4 min. and allow it to cool down.
- Blend into puree.
- Heat a pan with jaggery & beetroot puree in low flame.
- When jaggery begins to melt away, increase the flame to medium.
- Stir for few min. until nicely coagulated.
- Add cardamom powder, mix well, simmer for 1-2 min and remove from fire.
- Store beetroot relish in a clean jar at room temperature.
How to prepare pazha pachadi:
First we need to heat a pan with beetroot relish and add fruit chunks into the pan. Then simmer for few minutes allowing to get infused with fruit flavors.
We can also serve beetroot relish with bread for breakfast or simply relish this as a dessert.
love the banana leaf display!
I’m so glad, thank you so much!
Eating in banana leaf is one the best habit followed by our ancestors.. sadly it’s disappearing…
beetroot for bread I haven’t tried it… tat would be delicious..
Lovely recipe nd well written about banana leaf
Thanks so much for reading my posts!
This relish looks scrumptious. I’m sure it tastes good too. And it is so healthy! Fantastic for kids and adults alike.
Yes, it is! Thank you so much for stopping by!
This seems sumptuous and very appealing to my sweet-tooth. I make beet pachadi but this one seems very new to me and very interesting too. You are right, as parents we must include our traditional food, that have a lot of benefits, in our children’s diet.
Yes, when we serve something good to our children, it gives the sense of fulfillment and it turns out to be the driving force for all of us, isn’t it? 🙂
Thank you.
Absolutely, Megala. My mother too used to make these quick healthy fixes that we used to enjoy but the supermarket revolution and the availability of just about everything has put many such simple recipes to rest to be substituted with read-to-eat packaged food.
Healthy spread…full of nutrients. I would love to try this.
Thank you.
wonderful share Megala, the beetroot relish looks simply awesome!
Thank you.
I just ate some today. I love it!
Thank you, and thanks for stopping by.
Wow, this is so simple and has beautiful colors from beet. Like that it’s uses so few ingredients, will try this?
Thanks, Nisha. 🙂
This looks so good! I often make fruit pachadi, but have never tried this out. Should do soon. 🙂 I have bookmarked your recipe to try out.
Yes, you would love it! 🙂 Thanks so much.
Megala , i didn’t have any words to express your hard work. Fantastic.
Thanks so much! 🙂
Your writing of the banana leaf used in serving food is amazing! Indian Parsis and serve food on banana leaves, at our weddings and other auspicious occasions. I love the taste and smell when the hot food hits the banana leaf.
So nice to hear that this tradition is being followed among Parsis in India. Thank you so much !
I never realised there were beetroot’s in India. Your food looks lovely served on the Banana leaf ?
Beet crops have been cultivated for quite a long time and beets are available plentiful here. Thank you so much for reading this post.
This looks so yummy! I’ve been wanting to eat beetroot more often. What can we use in place of ghee since my husband and I don’t eat animal products? Coconut oil?
That’s a very simple and versatile recipe. Thanks for sharing!!
Pleasure is mine ! 🙂
What a nice recipe. I should try this.
Thanks Chelvi
Very good recipe, I like it.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Beet jams are always my fav and homemade is always healthy. I usually dont microwave, good that you reminded me of this, someday will update my blog with this mom recipe.
Oh, nice, looking forward to your mom’s recipe. Thanks so much.
Now that is a seriously good looking Relish and I love beetroots.
Thanks so much.
This looks so delicious Megala!
Yes, it really is. Thank you.
The beet relish looks super yum ! Love the gorgeous color .
Thank you.
The traditional fruit dessert sounds wonderful! I do hope that more kids get to enjoy it as you say it’s not as popular anymore.
Yes, I also wish someone makes this relish at home so that kids get to enjoy the forgotten dessert. 🙂 Thanks so much.
Looks delicious ?.Can’t wait to try.
Thanks ! 🙂
Wow wow execellent megala
Adding fruit chunks will increase shelf life?
As no preservatives is added right?
Relish may be refrigerated for up to 7 days, but fruits should be added before serving only.
Thank you.
Thankyou megala sure will give it a try
Beetroot relish looks super awesome, and I have always loved eating food on a banana leaf, but I was never aware of it’s benefits.
Now, I guess, you would like to use it often. 🙂 Thank you so much.
Absolutely correct guess?
Wow.. Wonderful!?
Thanks. 🙂
The information and recipe both are so useful. Thanks for sharing such interesting and important informaiton with us Megala.
Glad you find it useful. Thank you.
I simply adore beets! I can’t wait to try this new approach to preparing them.
Oh, nice. Thanks much.
I always go to weddings in Chennai and its def fun to eat on those banana leaves lol. Amazing pics that are def mouth watering and am not a big fan of beetroot but I do like it within certain dishes 🙂
Nice to hear that, thank you. 🙂
Wow, learned something new. Looks delicious!
I’m so happy, thank you. 🙂
This looks so delicious Megala. The colour itself got me excited.
Yes, I do find its color very attractive. 🙂 Thanks a lot.
The beetroot relish looks awesome! I have bookmarked this recipe to try out soon – I even have some beetroot lying around in my refrigerator. 🙂
How can I make this without a microwave?
I used microwave oven only for retaining its crimson color. You can cook beetroot on the stove by frying in little more ghee until the raw smell disappears, we can avoid boiling them in water, or cover the pan while cooking to prevent it become pale. Hope you would enjoy this as we did. Thank you!
What a wonderful post and recipe, Megala. I know I would love Beetroot Relish; all the ingredients are favourites; especially Beetroot. We normally would have plenty of Beets, at this time of year, however, for an unknown reason we didn’t plant any this year! I may have to buy some… 😉
xoxoxo
So happy to hear that you like both my recipe and the post. Thank you so much.
Lovely spread.I like the bright red relish, can be used as dip and perfect to have on side with roti and curry.
Yes, thank you so much.
So fascinating about the banana leaves! I would love to try this relish!
Thank you.
Loved the way you gave an in-depth analysis and advantages of the banana leaf Megala.
The beetroot relish looks so royal ?
Many thanks for your encouraging words. 🙂
So very informative!!!!
Thanks.
Wonderful details on the use of banana leaves and cute recipe for beet root relish
Thank you.
You are welcome
Absolutely love this post! Its a great read on my favorites- banana leaves and wedding special beetroot halwa. The wedding saapadu has made me hungry now!
I’m happy that I could at least treat your eyes. 🙂 Thanks a lot.
Loved beetroot jam as well!!!
Thanks! 🙂
Wowww!!!! Amazing recipe!!! Always I would love to have my meal on banana leaf!!! Great share!!!!!
Thanks a bunch ! 🙂
What an amazing dish – it’s so different!
It is our traditional preparation. Thank you.
Great one Megala! I will try this out:)
Thanks!
Lovely spread ?
Thank you !
Lovely post, never heard of beetroot relish and the ways we can use it. Amazing Idea !!
Thanks a lot.
Loved the post and absolutely delicious share. <3
Thanks a lot!
Wow ! Banana leaf as plates ! What a great idea and the beet relish ! Amazing
Glad you liked it, thanks so much.
I too like eating on a banana leaf. But wasn’t aware of its beneficial properties. Thanks for sharing. The beetroot relish with fruits pieces within looks absolutely divine and delicious!!?
Yes, it is ! Thanks so much.
Do you get your banana leaves from the grocery store?
Here we buy them in a vegetable market, but you may find frozen leaves in any Asian grocer, mainly used for steaming certain foods (esp. fish) and for packing foodstuffs.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
I want banana leaves now! I’ve never seen them used as plates before~ so cool!
Yes, you must try once, it is really an enjoyable experience, there is no way we can take our food hurriedly. 🙂 Thank you.
Well explained about banana leaf and absolutely like the relish, love the way of using fruit chunks in it…totally it’s a wholesome dish !
Indeed, thank you so much.