Delicious Spicy Roast Beetroot

In this Instructable I will show you how to make my delicious spicy roast beetroot. This is a twist on a traditional roast beetroot dish which goes well with roast potatoes, chicken, gravy and fish. It is only mildly spicy and the children love it. It happens to be vegetarian and vegan as well as gluten free.

Beetroot is an under-rated vegetable which has a delicious rich flavour and amazing texture; unfortunately many people only think of beetroot as coming from a jar and having a rubbery texture. The addition of garam masala brings a gentle rich warmth which adds flair to a well-cooked traditional roast dinner.

Preparation time; 10 minutes

Cooking time 50 minutes

Serves 8

5 medium/large beetroot

A small handful of fresh coriander

5 tablespoons of vegetable oil

A heaped teaspoon of garam masala

Half a teaspoon full of hot chilli powder

Quarter of a teaspoon of salt

Peel the beetroot and top and tail them. Chop them into large pieces; here I cut each beetroot into 8 which makes them a good size. Remember that they shrink whilst cooking so cut them a bit bigger than you would like them to end up on the table. Put the beetroot in a large oven proof dish; it needs to be large enough that they cover the bottom and not piled on top of each other otherwise they will take too long to cook.

Sprinkle the garam masala and salt over the top. Add 5 tablespoons of oil and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Put in the oven at 190 degrees for 50 minutes; I sometimes cook for longer than this as I like the beetroot well done. In the Aga I frequently leave it for an hour and a half but it is more gentle than a fan oven.

Whilst the beetroot are cooking chop the coriander finely. Removing the stalks creates a better appearance (I didn't do this but I would if I was cooking for someone I wanted to impress, like my mum.)

Put the coriander to one side for when the cooking is done. Transfer into a warmed table dish when cooked and sprinkle the chopped coriander over the top.

The beetroot went down really well. I served it with homemade mushroom gravy, steamed baby spinach, homemade chilli sauce, roast new potatoes with the skins on, sea bass and parsnips with honey and ginger. We also had some guacamole left from the tacos the night before, it went surprisingly well!