10 Easy ways to cook root vegetables

A well balanced diet is very important to stay fit and healthy. As we are talking about health, let us not forget about root vegetables that are great source of carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. These are underground parts of vegetables that are edible, so called as roots of plants. Root vegetables include carrots, beetroot, sweet potato, yams, ginger, turmeric, lotus root, onions and many more.

There are different ways to use root vegetables in cooking which is healthy and yummy. Read on to know 10 easy ways to cook root vegetables.

1. Indian root vegetable: Dalma

Complexity level: Easy

Time taken: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp toor dal
• Potatoes 1 cut 8 pieces
• Carrot 1 cut 8 pieces
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp green chili
• oil 1 full & 1/2 tbsp
• 1 medium onion chopped
• grated ginger 1/2 tbsp
• Salt & 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder

Process: Cut all the vegetables. Wash Dal. Put Dal and vegetables, potato pieces, 2 cups of water in presser-cooker. Add salt, turmeric to your taste. Put 1 whistle in medium flame and immediately switch off flame. Roast (without oil) cumin seeds and red-chilli for 1 to 2 min. Grind it when it cooled down, keep aside, in a pan take oil ghee, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chilli, ginger and onion. Add Dal and vegetable mixture from pressure-cooker. Then add roasted cumin powder top of it and mix well. Serve with rice.

2. Boiled root vegetables Curry/Santula

Complexity level: Easy

Time taken: 15 min

Ingredients:

• Yams 1 cut 8 pieces
• Potato 1 cut 8 pieces
• Carrot 1
• 1 finely chopped onions
• 1/2 tbsp oil
• Cumin seeds (pinch)
• Turmeric powder as per quantity and salt

• 1 glass of water
• Coriander leaves for garnish

Process: Cut all the vegetables and wash them properly. Put oil in pan, then as cumin seeds put chopped onions into the pan, fry till it get golden brown then add vegetables, mix it well, add turmeric powder as per quantity, mix well and put 1glass full water and cover it. All the mixture to boil for about 6-9 min. After that put coriander leaves into it, mix it well. Serve with chapati/steam rice.

3. Steamed Potato

Complexity level: Easy

Time taken: 10 min

Ingredients:

• 3 boiled potato
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/2 chopped green chilli
• Chopped coriander leaves
• Salt

Process: Peel up the steamed potato neatly, put it in a bowl, smahed the steam potato firmly then add chopped onion, green chilli and add salt and mix it well. Serve with bread/Paratha.

4. Fried potato chips

Complexity level: Easy

Time taken: 10 min

Ingredients:

• 5 sliced potatoes
• Oil 3 tbsp
• Red-chilli powder a pinch
• Black salt / normal white salt for taste

Process: First fry the sliced potato, it will get crunchy. Put neat white paper it absorb all oil. Then put red-chilli powder (a pinch) and salt for taste. Serve with tea/soft drinks.

5. Root vegetable Soup

Complexity level: Easy

Time taken: 10 min

Ingredients:

• 2 cup of carrot chopped
• 1 chopped spring onions
• 1 cup beetroot chopped
• Pepper powder as per quantity
• Salt
• Tomato sauce for garnish

Process: Cut and wash the root vegetables, put it in pressure-cooker, add 2 cup of water, put 2 whistle in medium flame. After that, separate the stock from vegetable add salt, garnish it with tomato sauce. Serve hot.

6. Root vegetable Chop

Complexity level: Moderate

Time taken: 15-20 min

Ingredients:

• 3/4 boiled potatoes

• 1/2 cup chopped beetroot and carrot
• 3-4 onions
• 2 cups gram flour (Besan)

• 3-4 green chilies

• A small piece ginger

• 4 cloves garlic

• 2 tbs. grated coconut

• Sugar to taste

• Juice of 1lime

• A few sprigs coriander leaves, chopped

• Salt

• Oil for deep frying

• 1 tsp. mustard seeds

• 1 tsp. turmeric powder

• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder

• 1 tsp. cumin seeds

• Pinch baking soda

Process: Pressure cook the potatoes till soft. Peel and mash. Add green chilies, garlic and ginger to a fine paste, make mixture potato, onions, carrot, beetroot, ginger/garlic/chili paste, coriander leaves, sugar and salt. Heat oil add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add vegetable mixture. Make a smooth batter add salt, cumin seeds, red chili powder, turmeric powder. Serve with sauce.

7. Indian fried root vegetables

Complexity level: Easy

Time taken: 10 min

Ingredients:

• 1 cup carrot finely chopped
• 1 beetroot chopped

• 1 potato chopped
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
• Pinch cumin seeds
• 1tbsp full oil
• Salt

Process: Heat oil in pan add a pinch cumin seeds fry for seconds, add root vegetables, put some turmeric powder then salt and cover it, leave it for 5-6 min. Serve with anything you like.

8. Odia Poha

Complexity level: Easy

Time taken: 10 min

Ingredients:

• 2 cup thick Chuda (Poha)
• 2 green chillies sliced
• 1tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp Jeera seeds
• 1 small diced onion
• 1 medium diced tomato

  1 medium potato

• 1 medium carrot
• 1 tbsp turmeric powder
• Peanuts - 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves
• Oil - 3 tbsp
• Salt
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Process: Wash Chuda (Poha) in cold water, drain water. Add turmeric powder to Chuda (Poha). Heat oil in a pan. Add curry leaves, green chillies, mustard seeds, jeera seeds and peanuts. Stir in for few minutes. Add onions, carrot and potatoes then stir for 5 min. Add tomatoes and salt. Add Chuda (Poha) to the mixture in the pan. Stir for 1 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

9. Odia carrot cake

Complexity level: Moderate

Time taken: 15-30 min

Ingredients:

• 3 cups grated carrot
• 1c up flour

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 baking soda

• 1 cup walnuts

• 3 eggs

• Salt

• 1 nutmeg

• 1 1/2 cup sugar

• 1cup oil

Process: The flour, soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt together. Blend carrots, sugar, oil, nuts and eggs. Mix ingredients into the egg mixture. Pour it into a pan. Cook the mixture on high power in a microwave for about 10 minutes. Carrot cake is ready.

10. Steamed root vegetables

Complexity level: Easy

Time taken: 10 min

Ingredients:

• 1 carrot
• 1potato
• 1 beetroot
• 1/2 Yams
• 2 cups of water
• Pinch red chilli powder & cumin powder
• Salt

Process: Boil all root vegetables then put boil vegetables to a bowl add pinch red chilli powder and cumin seeds and add salt.