My latest beet obsession began with a delicious little snack at Portland’s Bollywood Theatre restaurant. Me & my best girl-boo’s swooned over Troy MacLarty’s roasted beets in coconut milk. They’re a revelation — sweet and sour, rich and punchy.
Apparently, other people have our level of good taste: turns out its one of the most popular dishes on the restaurant’s menu. So much so, that this recipe is published in the “Portland Cooks” cookbook.
Hipcooks fans know I love to take complex recipes and “Hipcooks-ify” them: take shortcuts without compromising quality, make them healthier, add lots of green and Hipcooks panache. So here you have it: an adaptation of this recipe, our style. These beets in coconut milk are crave-inducingly awesome, so it’s wonderful to create this dish quickly.
The Right Stuff — Stock your kitchen so you can be a spontaneous Hipcook
Being a Hipcook is a lifestyle. Whipping up super-creative, super-tasty dishes in minutes, with a mere wave of your hand: that requires back-up! Stock your cupboard (and fridge, and freezer) with ingredients that can support your fabulous whims. Yup! We’ve got a class for that. Look for Cooking from the Cupboard on the schedule at Hipcooks.
For this particular recipe, I’ll add some pantry-stocking ingredients so that you can make beets in coconut milk whenever the desire hits (and trust me, one taste and you’ll crave it again.)
Coconut Milk
Keep coconut milk in your cupboard for Thai, Vietnamese & Indonesian-inspired dishes, and for dairy-free versions of ice cream, custards and smoothies.
Hipcooks don’t settle for any old brand. We love Aroy-D:100% pure coconut milk in paper cartons with no stabilizers, thickeners, gums, or preservatives.
Pickled Beets
Grab a jar, make a jar! (Hipcooks teacher Kyrsten is a little obsessed with pickling everything, I like to support her habit.) When she’s not around, I buy pickled beets from TJs: they’re great in salads, as a snack, on a charcuterie board. Once the beets are used, I save the liquid in the jar and throw in hard-boiled eggs to marinate for a day or two. (Pinterest-worthy eggs, no effort.)
Fresh Curry leaves
This magical-tasting herb can be tricky to find: when you spot it fresh, nab it! (It may require a trip to an Indian or world foods market, though I’ve seen them at Whole Foods). Hipcooks store these in the freezer: pluck the leaves from the stem and put them into a jar or Tupperware. Toast curry leaves with other Indian spices and stir into a curry.
The Spice Drawer
This recipe calls for cumin seeds. You’ve got those, I’m sure. If you don’t have mustard seeds, go get ’em! They pop ever so delightfully when consumed — think of them like caviar, only Indian-ish. Fab to add to a potato salad (or even mashed potatoes for a divine sensory experience.) Nigella seeds are used in this recipe: it’s are an oniony-tasting spice that looks like black sesame seeds.
Ready, Set, Cook!
Now that you’re armed and ready, enjoy these beets in coconut milk… from cupboard to mouth in mere minutes!
Heat the coconut milk in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and curry leaves. Toss in some heat! Use a dollop of chili paste is nice or crushed red pepper flakes. Let the coconut milk bubble away. Remove the beets from the vinegar, reserving the liquid in the jar (like for pickling hard-boiled eggs, referenced in the blog post.) Halve or quarter the beets, depending on their size, and add them to the bubbling coconut milk. Let the beets color the coconut milk as they cook: the coconut milk will reduce by almost half, becoming a hearty sauce. Taste it: it will need some salt, perhaps a little more heat, and perhaps a splash of beet pickling liquid for acidity. Dry-toast the spices in a small skillet. The mustard seeds and cumin will pop and "dance in the pan." When fragrant, they're ready to add to the beets. Re-use the skillet for sauteing reserved curry leaves in a scant amount of netural oil (like coconut oil.) They'll crisp up fast in just a minute or two. Garnish the beets with cilantro leaves and fried curry leaves. 
Ingredients
1 13½-ounce can coconut cream
1 shallot, thinly sliced
a handful (about 20) of curry leaves (from your jar in the freezer), reserving some for garnish
a dollop of your favorite chili paste, or a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes
1 jar pickled beets
Indian spices: mustard seeds, nigella seeds, cumin seeds
garnish: torn leaves from ½ bunch cilantro and fried curry leaves (if desired)Instructions
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