Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Spring Onion and Tomato Gojju

Ever since Asha announced RCI: Karnataka, I have been wondering what to make. I googled a number of Karnataka recipes before finally deciding to settle for a gojju.

From what I understand, a gojju is a sweet-sour and spicy dish which is part of a traditional Kannadiga Oota (Kannadiga meal) and can be prepared using a variety of vegetables like eggplant, okra, tomato, pumpkin, onion, bitter gourd etc . It involves cooking the vegetable in a sweet and sour gravy which is prepared by using grated coconut, tamarind & jaggery. Generally, a gojju is prepared using just a single vegetable so that it imparts its own unique taste to the gojju.

I came across dozens of gojju recipes on the blogs of my fellow blogger friends before deciding to make a simple onion and tomato gojju. I adapted
this recipe to suit my taste and I must say I was not at all disappointed with the outcome. I am going to make this regularly.
This is how I went about making this dish.

Ingredients:
1 large bunch of finely chopped spring onions/scallions/green onions
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
½ tsp chilli powder
2 tsp sambar powder (I used MTR)

2 marble-sized balls of tamarind soaked in warm water
1 big piece of jaggery
1 tsp rice flour (for thickening the gojju)
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp skinned and split white lentils/ urad dal
A pinch of asafoetida/hing
3-4 curry leaves

To be dry-roasted:
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp methi seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp split
chickpeas/chana dal
2 tsp sesame seeds

To be ground to a smooth paste:
2 Tbsp coconut
Previously roasted ingredients

Method:
Heat oil and add all the ingredients for the seasoning followed by the spring onions. Sauté till the onions are soft and transparent, and then add the tomatoes and cover and cook till the tomatoes are done.

Add the chilli powder & sambar powder and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the ground paste of the coconut and the roasted ingredients and cook for a few minutes.

Add the tamarind juice along with the jaggery and a cup of water and let the whole mixture come to a boil.

Prepare a paste of rice flour in some water and add this paste to the boiling mixture. Turn down the heat.

Simmer for 5-7 minutes till the gojju thickens.

Serve hot with rice.

This is being sent to Asha (
Foodie’s Hope and Aroma), the host for RCI: Karnataka.
Thanks for hosting, Asha!

42 Burps:

Finla said...

So you too found a good recipe for RCI: Karnataka.
I amm still looking.
Nice lookind dish and the pictures are beauty

musical said...

Love the addition of spring onions here. Looks yummy!

FH said...

Oh tbc,what a great combo! I love Spring onion Gojju too.Lovely recipe RCI K.Thanks girl.Photo looks fabulous too. Hugs!:))

Suganya said...

Am surprised to find spring onions in the gojju. Well done!

Pooja V said...

Lovely entry for RCI-K.

Kribha said...

Looks so nice. I make a similar kinda preparation with okra ,but I do not know it's name. My mom used to make it during some pooja.So,I always call it as 'swamy kuzhambu' (sound's stupid , I know). Will ask my mom about this and post it some time.
Nice pictures. Love that beautiful bowl too.

Sharmi said...

I loved the bowl first. very authentic sounding gojju.

Rajitha said...

TBC..it looks delicious..spring onion and tomato..yumm..btw..the pic is lovely

Cris said...

It looks delicious! I like thick and creamy dishes like that. And your bowl design is so wonderful!!!

Pdk said...

Hey... Spring onion gojju.. that looks lip-smacking!!

Manjula said...

I have been hunting for a tomato chutney recipe that matches the one served her in a South Indian restaurant. This might be the one I am looking for.
Lovely presentation.

Namratha said...

Perfect entry for RCI-K...nothing beats good ol' Tomato Gojju:)

Richa said...

such a nice way to use spring onions :) looks yum :)

Padma said...

that looks so yummy n creamy, I can taste it from here, slurp...slurp!

Cynthia said...

I like the idea of this dish and green onions, one of my all time favourite things. Sometimes I just like to cut it up and sprinkle on my food to eat.

Sreelu said...

never made gojju with spring onions, nice entry

Laavanya said...

This is very tempting 'The Blossomed Cook' - i hope to make one other kannadiga dish other than the ubiquitous BBB for Asha's RCI.

Laavanya said...

Sorry but I forgot to mention that I tried your Pineapple Kesari(Halwa) recipe and my guests and husband loved it.. particularly when it was cold. Thank you TBC. Of course 2 tsp of sugar didn't work for me.. had to add a whole lot more.. maybe my pineapples weren't sweet enough but that's the only change I made.

bee said...

lovely picture.

Roopa said...

looks mouth watering and delicious! nice entry TBC! beutifull picture too :)

Anonymous said...

Looks beautiful TBC.I am from Bangalore and I can vouch that it is an awesome Gojju.

Viji said...

Just I need hot idli or dosas, or even pongal to go with this TBC. Very nice. Viji

Bindiya said...

Hi full bloom cook, lol
Will be making this delicious gojju right away, love recipes like this

Seena said...

TBC,
Looks delicious!

Raaga said...

simple and yummy at the same time... that's a winning combo!!

Anonymous said...

i posted a "twin" that is more like a chutney :).

me thinks your gojju will go very well with ragi mudde.

Prajusha said...

Tbc,
Great ENtry for RCI.This gojju curry looks spicy.

TBC said...

HC, Musical, Asha, Suganya, Pooja V- thanks gals:-)




Kribha,ha ha... I love the sound of swamy kozhambu .And ifit's mom's prep, it just has to be good!Will wait for your post.
I like the bowl too;-)


Sharmi, Rajitha, Cris, Priya-thnak you so much for your comments:-)


Manjula, this was not meant to be a chutney:-(. Anyway, it tasted reallllllllly good. Do try it out.



Namratha, Richa- thanks you:-)

TBC said...

Padma, it WAS really yummy:-)


Cynthia,I discovered green onions only aftercoming to the U.S. Maybe 'cos I was never interested in cooking whileI was in India and hence never looked! I do the cutting up & sprinkling too :-)


Sreelu, thank you dear :-)



Laavanya, ha ha ha... the blossomed cook!
I love BBB too.It's ubiquitous only 'cos it's popular:-)
I am so glad u made the Pineapple halwa & it turned out o.k.:-). You like it cold? My hubby does too. Somehow I think it tastes a lot better when it is warm. My hubby who is not too fond of sweets too had to add sugar:-)

Bee, Roopa- thanks:-)



Redchillies-thank you.Coming from a Kannadiga, that means a lot tome:-)


Viji, thanks.Actually, I had this with rava dosas &onion chutney. It was soooooooo good!


Bindiya, " full bloom cook"...lol:-). You are too kind!


Seena & Raaga, thank you. You gals are so sweet.


Lakshmi, I just checked out my " twin". I like how you have made use of similar ingredients & made something so different.:-)


Prajusha, thank you:-)

Rachna said...

hey gojju is new to me...will def try this

East Meets West Kitchen said...

What a lovely dish! I'll have to try to find curry leaves around here.

Linda said...

Hi, TBC, wow! I missed a week of blog-hopping and look what you have here... plantain fritters to die for, matki curry with coconut! and now this yummy gojju -- I am getting really hungry now. Everything looks *fabulous* :)

sdf said...

TBC, that is simply great & lovely pic... and I will give it a try..

TBC said...

Rachna, it was for me too. I had never made this before though all South Indian preparations are a lot similar in the style of preparation.

EMWK: If you are not used to eating Indian food, I would reccommend cutting down on a lot of spices:-)
Also, you will be able to find curry leaves in any Indian grocery store. I have not seen it in other place.

awwww Linda, you are so sweet:-)I hope you are alright now.
I am just blown away by the fact that you are sooooo passionate about Indian cuisine.Were you Indian in your previous birth?;-)


Ani, do give it a shot. You will not be disappointed:-)

Deepa said...

I like this recipe. My husband is Kannadiga, so if we make this, he's be a happy man.

TBC said...

Hey Deepa,
Thanks for stopping by:-)

zlamushka said...

Hi TBC,

I love curries, thick gravies... yum. Will definitely try this one...

TBC said...

Zlamushka,
I get the feeling that you like spicy food. You could add more spices too if you can tolerate it:-)

Kajal said...

Nice presentation and rocking entry for RCI.:)

TBC said...

Kajal, thanks dear:-)

SeeC said...

Great entry for RCI-Karnataka.
Lovely version. Never heard this before.

TBC said...

Seec, same here.. I made it just for Asha:)

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