Beetroot Besan Sautéed Vegetables

I must confess, I made this dish at the end of summer just as the leaves began to turn when the last tomatoes of the season were ripening on the vines. I would not recommend using tomatoes in this dish in the winter, but it is still delicious. I used besan flour (chickpea flour) as a dumpling that cooks in the beet and tomato sauce. The za’atar seasoning helped elevate this dish with bright, pungent herbs and the tangy hit of sumac. Serve this with any stovetop flatbread or grain of choice. This recipe serves 1.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. ghee or olive oil
• 1 pinch cumin seeds
• 1 pinch coriander seeds
• 1 pinch fennel seeds
• 1 thumb ginger, minced
• 1 cup red beet (one small beet), cubed
• ½ tsp. za’atar
• ¼ tsp. sumac
• ¼ tsp. coriander powder
• ¼ tsp. cumin powder
• 1 pinch salt (to taste)
• 1 pinch pepper
• 1 pinch hing (maybe even less because this is potent)
• 1 cup tomatoes, cubed
• ¼ cup besan flour
• ½ cup water or enough to reach desired consistency
• 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• ½ tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ cup greens like bok choy, chopped (garnish)
• Hemp seeds (garnish)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pot on the stove at medium heat
2. Add the whole seeds to temper until brown or aromatic
3. Add ginger to sauté
4. After 1 minute, add the beet to sauté
5. Once the oil begins to turn a bright red (from the beet), add the ground spices, salt, and pepper
6. Add tomatoes to deglaze the pot and simmer until jammy
7. While simmering, add flour, nutritional yeast, turmeric, and salt in a separate bowl
8. Mix in water until the batter reaches a smooth slightly viscous consistency (like pancake batter)
9. Once beets are soft, form three small hollows in the sauce to pour the batter
10. Pour batter into sauce, cover, and turn heat on low
11. Simmer for 3-5 minutes or until besan dumplings are solid
12. Turn off the heat
13. Let soup cool with lid askew for 5-10 minutes
14. Garnish with hemp seeds and greens
15. Enjoy