gojju recipes

SWEET PUMPKIN GOJJU

| sarapaka
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater….pump your kith and kin with this bold and beautiful sweet veggie and see them sprint to a healthy, nutritious diet. Enjoy them ebbing in calories amidst a generous flow of fibre, vitamins and minerals, packing themselves with proteins all the way. Why leave yourself out, Pete? Join them in their race to great health!

Called by many other names like Sugar pumpkin, Pie pumpkin, Baking pumpkin, Golden nugget pumpkin, etc. the secret behind the bright orange hue lies in beta carotene that boosts eye health. While savoring the earthy flavour and sweet taste of the creamy orange flesh don’t forget to save the shell and the seeds, for its true treasure lies here!

 Dish Type: South Indian Side Dish Sweet Pumpkin

Preparation Time: 15 min

Cooking time: 15 min

Serves: 5 persons

Ingredients

For boiling

Sweet pumpkin           500 gms

Water                          ½ litre

Tamarind paste           1 tsp

Curry leaves                1 sprig

Turmeric pwd             A pinch

Salt to taste                 1 tsp approx. (divide into 2 parts – 1 part at the start of boiling and the 2nd part towards the end when ground chutney is added)

Jaggery                        1 tbsp (optional; if used, add towards the end of boiling)

For dry frying

Til seeds                     1 tbsp

Methi seeds                ¼ tsp

Jeera                           ½ tsp

Red chillies                  6 to 8 nos.

For grinding

Raw grated coconut    ¼ of a coconut

Dry fried ingredients (mentioned above)

For seasoning:

Oil                               1 tsp

Mustard seeds            1 tsp

Black gram                  1 tsp

Red chillies                  2 nos.

Asafoetida                   A pinch

Directions

Wash sweet pumpkin in salt water. Drain the water. Remove the seeds. Cut the vegetable into small cubes with the skin.

Boil the vegetables in a vessel along with ½ litre water, tamarind paste, curry leaves, turmeric powder and salt for about 10 min.

While vegetable is boiling….

Dry fry til, methi, jeera and red chillies seperately in a small kadai. Transfer it to a plate and let it cool.

Grate raw coconut and grind it along with the above dry fried ingredients. Use little quantity of water to grind it to chutney consistency.

Mix this ground chutney to the boiling vegetable. At this stage, add little more salt (check if required) and jaggery, if desired. Continue boiling for another 5 min. The tempting flavour you get at this stage tells you, it’s time for seasoning.

Heat oil in a small skillet. Put mustard seeds. When they crackle, add black gram and then broken red chillies. Switch off the flame. Add asafoetida and immediately pour it on to the boiling gojju.

Sweet Pumpkin Gojju is now ready. Use it with rotis, hot steam cooked rice or dosas.

Chefs’Chat:

What’s gojju…did you ask? Read all about it in “Tamarind Gojju” recipe from this blog.

Also view other gojju recipes in our blog “Raisins Gojju” “Onion Tomato Gojju” “Lime Juice Gojju” and “Cucumber Onion Hasi Gojju”.

TAMARIND GOJJU

| sarapaka
This “Made in Karnataka” speciality is a favourite side dish for pongal, rotis, dosas and hot rice.  Gojju can be of different varieties, variation created either by using different ingredients for making the spice powder itself or by using a host of different vegetables and fruits.  Generally, just a single vegetable or fruit is used. There are a few rare recipes however where gojju has a mix of vegetables too. This recipe however is created without using any vegetable or fruit.

The 3 salient tastes of Gojju are sweet, sour and spicy. In this recipe, they are derived by using jaggery, tamarind and a combination of rasam powder with few other spices respectively. Easy n tasty gojju for you to try n taste!

 

Dish Type: South Indian Side DishTamarind Gojju

Preparation Time: 10 min

Cooking time: 10 min

Serves: 5 persons

Ingredients

Tamarind                    1 big lime size

Jaggery                        50 gms

Urad dhal                    2 tsps

Methi seeds                1 tsp

Jeera                           2 tsps

Rasam powder            2 tbsps

Procedure for preparation

Soak tamarind in 50 ml water for half an hour

Dry roast urad dhal, methi seeds and jeera. Let it cool and then powder it.

Add little water to this powder, make it to a thin paste and keep aside.

Squeeze soaked tamarind to remove any seeds or fibre to make tamarind juice. (Alternatively, a tbsp. of tamarind paste can be used and diluted with few spoonfuls of water to make tamarind juice.)

 To this juice, add salt, rasam powder and jaggery.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a kadai.

Put asafoetida and mustard seeds for seasoning. To this add tamarind juice mix. Let it boil for a few minutes.

Add urad dhal paste to the boiling tamarind juice. Mix well and continue boiling till you get a uniform slightly thick and even consistency.

Tamraind Gojju is now ready.

Also view other Gojju recipes at Sarapaaka “Lime Juice Gojju” “Onion Tomato Gojju” “Raisins Gojju” “Cucumber Onion Hasi Gojju”.     

Note:

Tamarind, the most sought after ingredient in Indian households, is most commonly used in rasams, curries, chutneys, gojjus, hot and sour soups, lentil, vegetable and chaat preparations, etc.

Tamarind juice (i.e., the juice extracted from tamarind pulp) combined with jaggery or sugar, honey, dates, cardamom, clove and coriander seeds makes for a healthy and refreshing drink. Or tamarind juice with jaggery or honey, jeera and pepper (in fresh powdered form) and a pinch of salt. This juice is believed to be extremely good for controlling skin itching and irritation and can easily be a part of haircare and skincare regimen.