The beet route: the scarlet vegetable is back in the spotlight

Beetroot's unrepentantly earthy flavours need something bright and acidic to bring harmony and balance to a recipe. And that is what it usually gets, in the form of vinegar and pickling spice, sour-cream dressings, yoghurt and goat's cheeses. One of my favourites is to fold thin threads of grated beetroot into yoghurt for serving with steaks or a lentil curry.

A little beetroot goes a long way. I like to bake them whole, in a roasting tin under a sheet of foil, then slip off their skins, slice and dress them, still warm, with a fruit vinegar — raspberry is good. If the leaves are still bright and bushy then I will steam them, stems and all, chop them a little, and dress with olive oil, lemon and a showering of chopped dill.

I took the dill route with a mustard-seed dressing for a batch of beetroot fritters. This root likes oily fish — pickled, it is great with grilled mackerel — and so I teamed the fritters up with slices of gravlax, the salmon cured with salt and dill. I'm not a canapé person, but a friend pounced on the idea as being just as suitable for posh nibbles as for the light lunch for which they were intended. Either way they are sweet, earthy, crisp and delicious.

A more frugal and sustaining meal came in the form of a mild curry with turmeric, cumin and sweetly soft garam masala. With no heat to speak of, the lentils just warmed and satisfied us on a nippy evening.

I cooked the lentils first in boiling unsalted water, as I find they often don't soften properly if they are cooked in the sauce itself. Better I think to give them a good boiling, letting them finish cooking in the sauce.

Then and now

Ten years ago, beetroot was almost a goner. Available then only in pickles or occasionally in vacuum packs of four cooked and preserved globes, it is firmly in the spotlight now.

It is almost impossible to find a menu in the UK that doesn't acknowledge its newfound popularity.

At Bibendum it comes with cured herrings and warm potato salad, St John serves it with boiled egg and anchovies, and at River Cottage delis you find it in a sandwich with goat's cheese and thyme. Vivid pink gratins are splattered over the tablecloths of many a restaurant and café from one end of the UK to the other.

In many ways, goat's cheese — something young, sharp and fresh, such as Ticklemore, Dorstone, Sleightlett or Childwickbury if you are at a specialist cheese stall; any soft, young goat's cheese if you're not — is a perfect partner for the sweet notes of beetroot.

That pleasing hint of sourness is just what you need. Balance is essential in any dish, but particularly when one of the ingredients is particularly sweet, which is why so many recipes for the more sugary roots such as carrots, beets and parsnips contain something lemony, vinegary or lactic. It's a simple enough strategy, but one that might continue beetroot's rise to lasting acceptance.

Brown lentil curry and beetroot raita

For the curry

• 250g large green or brown lentils
• A 60g piece of fresh ginger or galangal
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp coriander, ground
• 3 tsp garam masala
• 2 small red chillies
• 1 tsp turmeric, ground
• 2 tbs rapeseed oil
• 1 onion, medium
• 400g tomatoes, chopped

For the raita

• 200ml yoghurt, natural and unstrained
• 4 heaped tbs beetroot, coarsely grated
• Coriander to taste

Bring the lentils to the boil in a pan of deep, unsalted water. Let them simmer for 20-25 minutes until they are quite soft.

Peel the ginger or galangal, roughly chop it then put it into the bowl of a food processor with the peeled garlic, cumin seeds, ground coriander, garam masala, red chillies, ground turmeric and enough vegetable oil to make a soft, but not runny, paste.

Peel and finely slice the onion. Warm a tablespoon or two of oil in a medium, heavy-based casserole over moderate heat. Add the onion and let it colour, stirring from time to time. When it is fragrant, golden and almost soft add the chopped tomatoes and a cup of water. Add salt and the drained, cooked lentils, and leave to simmer for half an hour. The lentils should be soft but still retaining a little of their texture; the sauce should be thick.

To make the raita, put the yoghurt into a small bowl, add the grated beetroot and a few leaves of coriander if you wish, then very gently fold the beetroot through the yoghurt with a fork. Try not to overmix, unless you actually like vivid pink. Serve with rice or warm flatbreads.

Servings: 4

Beetroot fritters and gravlax

For the fritters

• 350g red or golden beetroot
• 1 onion
• 2 tbs plain flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• Oil for cooking
• 500g gravlax or smoked salmon

For the dressing

• 1 tbs grain mustard
• 1 tbs smooth Dijon
• 2 tbs dill, chopped
• 5 tbs rapeseed oil
• 1 tbs water

Make the dressing by gently whisking together (or shaking in a tightly lidded jar) the mustards, chopped dill, oil and water. Set aside.

Scrub the beetroots thoroughly, then grate them coarsely. The medium grater on a food processor may be best to get thin, long shreds. Peel the onion and slice it finely, mixing it into the beetroot. Season, then add in the flour and egg.

Warm a shallow film of oil in a nonstick frying pan. Carefully drop generous spoonfuls of the mixture into the oil, flattening them down with the back of the spoon as you go. Leave them to cook over a moderate heat for a couple of minutes until just starting to crisp a little, then with the help of a palette knife or fish slice, turn them over quickly and cook the other side. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

Cut the gravlax into large slices and divide among the fritters. Spoon over some of the dill dressing.

Servings: 6