I am a part of the group called the ‘A-Z Recipe challenge’, wherein a group of bloggers comes together and we choose key ingredients alphabetically to cook and post a dish every alternate month. This event was initiated by Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan. This month, the challenge is to choose an ingredient with the letter ‘E’ and make a dish out of it. So, I decided on the ingredient Eggplant which is also called brinjal or kathirikkai, and chose to make this delicious Kathirikkai Gothsu. Gothsu is my favorite to eat with for many tiffin/breakfast items, especially Ven Pongal. The steaming hot pongal with a liberal serving of gothsu is a match made in heaven. Eggplant Gothsu is one of the very common gothsu that is made. It is a very simple recipe and so quick to make. There are two different kinds of gothsu made with eggplant. One of them is called the Chidambaram Gothsu and it is made with roasted eggplants. This gothsu is not to be mistaken with the Chidambaram Gothsu. This is made with either the long eggplant or the small ones and no roasting is involved. This Brinjal Gothsu goes really well not just with Ven Pongal, but with Idli and dosai as well. My favorite is to eat this Thayir Sadham / Yogurt rice. If you are looking to make a slightly different Pongal using millet, then give this Thinai Ven Pongal a try. If you don’t have eggplant in hand and still want to make gothsu, then try this Mixed Vegetable Gothsu / Kalyana Gothsu made with a few different vegetables that you have in hand. Preparation time - 10 minutesCooking time - 30 minutesDifficulty level - Easy
Ingredients to make Kathirikkai Gothsu - Serves 4
Eggplant / Kathirikkai (long or small) - 3 cups (chopped into ½ inch pieces) Onion - 1 medium (chopped) Tomato - 2 (chopped) Green chilies – 2 (chopped) Tamarind – tiny marble size (soaked in 2 cups of water) Sambhar powder – 1 tbsp Payatham paruppu / Moong dal – ⅓ cup Jaggery – 1 tbsp Salt – to taste Cilantro – to garnish
For seasoning the Brinjal Gothsu
Gingelly oil or any cooking oil – 1 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1 tsp Ullutham paruppu – 2 tsp Kadalai paruppu – 1 tsp Curry leaves – few Asafetida – a pinch
Procedure to make Eggplant Gothsu
Soak the tamarind in about 2 cups of hot water and extract the juice.
Wash and cook the payatham paruppu / Moong dal with enough water and a pinch of turmeric powder until soft. Keep it aside.
In a pan, heat the oil and add all the seasoning ingredients. Fry them until they are aromatic and golden brown.
Add the chopped onions and saute it for 2-3 minutes until slightly softened. Now add the tomatoes and fry for a minute.
Add the chopped eggplant and green chilies and saute for 5 minutes.
Now add the tamarind water to the vegetables and mix well. Add the Sambhar powder and salt and let the gothsu come to a boil.
Cook until the eggplant is soft and cooked.
Add the cooked payatham paruppu / moong dal and mix well. Add the jaggery as well and let the gothsu simmer for about 5 minutes.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with Pongal!
More Eggplant Recipes
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