Brinjal Gothsu (Curry with Brinjal)

                        

Gothsu is a famous South Indian side dish for idli, dosa and most popularly paired with Ven pongal.

There are different type of gothsu recipes and the most sorted or preferred one is with Brinjal/Eggplant. 

I got this easy and delicious recipe from one of my friend's Neighbour who makes all kinds of Gothsu. Although I prepared this long back somehow, forgot to post it until few days back my husband demanded the same. This is a mixture of moong dal and brinjal's which tastes yummy and goes well with idli, dosa and rice. You can try this Gotsu in place of the usual sambar. 

Gothsu is primarily made by cooking yellow moong dal with either one vegetable or combination of veggies and then seasoned with spices. Today I will share one made with brinjal. This brinjal gothsu might seem familiar and resemble a sambar or kootu in appearance. But, it is very different in flavor and texture. The moong dal gives the perfect base for this gravy. Let's see how its made. 

Ingredients: Serves 4 adults

Ingredients for Pressure cooking

• 1/2 cup Yellow Moong Dal Soaked for atleast 1 hour
• 3-4 medium Brinjal
• 1/2 cup Small Onions / Sambar onions chopped or 10 small onions
• 1/4 cup Tomato chopped
• 5 small Green Chili slit open
• 1/4 cup Turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 cup Water

Ingredients for the tempering 

• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 6 leaves Curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp Asafoetida
• 2 tbsp Tamarind juice small marble size diluted in water
• 1 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Coriander leaves chopped

Method: 

1. Wash well and soak yellow moong dal for atleast an hour and keep it ready.
2. Wash the brinjal, chop the head off and then cut them into quarters. 
3. Chop the shallots, green chilies and tomatoes.
4. Now take the soaked moong dal in a pressure cooker safe bowl, add in cut shallots, green chilies, chopped tomatoes and brinjal. 
5. Add in 1 cup of water along with turmeric powder and salt.
6. Place them in a pressure cooker (yellow moong has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pan if cooked directly in the pressure pan, hence i have filled the pan with water and then steamed the dal and veggies in another bowl) Also it has the tendency to leak from the whistle when cooking and this step avoids that to an extent.
7. Pressure cook for up to 2 whistles and wait for the steam to settle.
8. Now heat oil in a kadai and temper with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and some asafoetida powder. 
9. Let them sizzle a bit.
10. Add in the cooked mixture to the seasoning.
11. Add in 1/4 cup water and lightly mix and simmer. (Do not mash or stir vigorously) 
12. Check for salt and add if necessary.
13. Add in tamarind juice / paste and simmer for few minutes.
14. Switch off when the desired consistency is reached. (Almost semi thick) 
15. Garnish with coriander and curry leaves.
16. Serve it hot as a side for Idli, Dosa,  Pongal or pour it over hot rice 

Notes: 

• Soaking moong for at least an hour is the key to cook it soft in the cooker. Or you may dry roast it in a tawa and then cook it. If the dal is not soaked or roasted properly it will not cook soft in 2 whistles.
• Normally we don’t mash the dal for this recipe, it perfectly cooks soft in the cooker and the brinjals do keep its shape partially. You may mash it if you wish.
• Green chilies is the only source of heat element in this recipe, so add more if you prefer it little spicy.
• Small onions or sambar onion/ shallots adds in lot of flavor to the dish. Try making with it. If not you can alternate it with regular onions. 

This goes well with Rice and Idli. Try our home made Dosa- Idli Batter recipe. 

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