Stir-fried beetroot with lentil crumble from Chettinad (Beetroot Paruppu Usili)

This Recipe is inspired from Chandra Padmanabhan's Simply South. Her recipes are a real treasure!

Ingredients

1/2 cup Thuvar dal (pigeon peas)
1/2 cup husked bengal gram(chana dal)
6 dried red chillies
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
Salt to taste
4cups grated beetroot
1 onion, finely chopped

Tempering
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp husked black gram dal(urad dal)
1 green chilli, halved
1 sprig curry leaves

Preparation

Wash dals and soak in 2 cups water with red chillies for 1 hour. Drain and grind to a coarse batter, gradually adding 1/3-1/2 cup water.
Add asafoetida powder and 3/4 tsp salt. Mix well and set aside.
Pressure cook the beetroots, let them cool. Remove the skin and grate.
In a pan, heat oil for tempering over moderate heat. Add the tempering ingredients in the order given. When mustard seeds splutter, add onions and fry till pink.
Blend in dal batter and fry over low heat stirring frequently, till mixture is well cooked, crisp and resembles breadcrumbs. (but not hard)
Mix in beetroot and stir-fry for 5 minutes till well blended.
Serve hot with rice.