Curry Leaf, Cumin & Ginger Beet Salad

+ Sneak Peek at Recipes Coming Soon

A few weeks ago I was cooking a Thai chicken curry for dinner, and in need of some inspiration for a side dish. A recent trip to Costco found the fridge filled with an insane amount of cooked beets. After thumbing through Meera Sodha’s cookbook East, I came across a Beet & Yogurt Rice recipe.

I was intrigued but wanted to serve plain basmati rice to soak up the sauce from the curry. Instead, I decided to use Sodha’s recipe as inspiration for this beet salad. It comes together easily, provided you have fresh curry leaves on hand.

While I struggle to find many ingredients in stores upstate, it’s gotten better in the decade I’ve been living here, and the health food store in Woodstock actually stocks them in the produce aisle. An asian market might be another good resource for tracking them down.

If you can’t find fresh curry leaves, a quick search tells me lemon balm is a good substitute. Another equally challenging ingredient to source, though I happen to grow it in my garden. In a pinch you can try using one fresh bay leaf in place of the curry leaves. It will yield a very different flavor but sometimes you just have to make a recipe work with what you have on hand, right?

Whatever you do, don’t try adding curry powder since the flavor is quite different. Curry leaves have a subtle, herbaceous citrusy profile. After one bite, my friend said it was the best beet preparation he’d ever tasted, and I’m inclined to agree. —xo, j.