Pongal Eggplant Gotsu

Jack and Jill, Tom and Jerry, Laurel and Hardy - likewise Pongal and Gotsu. You cannot but think of Gotsu when you talk about Pongal and vice versa. Though each is a perfect dish on its own, when combined together create mind blowing sensations on our taste buds. Though Coconut Chutney and Sambar are also a good combination, nothing beats this pair.So after posting Ven Pongal can the Gotsu be far behind? The tangy yet lightly sweet taste blends so well with eggplant pulp.I have seen many versions doing the rounds in the blog-o-sphere and this is mine.


I learnt this from my MIL and did very few changes to suit my palate.Instead of cubing the eggplant, which by the way is must for a traditional Gotsu and using tomatoes, this is done by charring eggplant, the same way you would do for Baingan bhartha and mixing it with Tamarind water. I think this is Iyengar style of doing it. Onions and garlic are avoided during Festival and Auspicious days, hence, this is made sans these items.You can include them if you like.

  • Cook time:
  • Prep time:
  • Serves: 2 people
Ingredients
  • 2 large eggplants
  • 1 tbsp Tamarind paste (increase it to suit your preferences)
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp split gram (urad dal)
  • 1 tsp pigeon peas (toor dal)
  • 2-3 dried red chillies (as per taste)
  • salt to taste
  • few sprigs of curry leaves
  • pinch of asafoetida
Method
1. Wash the eggplants and oil them lightly. Place them on a Gas stove flame directly. Alternatively you can poke on the surface with a fork and broil them in an oven.
2. Once charred on all sides, let them cool and peel the surface.Chop it well.
3. Meanwhile mix the tamarind paste with 1 cup water until completely dissolved.
4. In a saucepan, heat 1 tsp oil and temper with lentils,chilli and mustard.
5. When the mustard starts popping, add the tamarind water along with curry leaves and let it come to a boil. The raw smell of the tamarind should leave after 5-10min. If you are using Tamarind instead of the paste, then dissolve the tamarind in warm water and let it sit for 15-20min. Squeeze out the juice from the pulp and discard the seeds and pulp. Do it until all the juice has been extracted. The cooking time is little more in this process - takes upto 15-20min for the raw smell of the tamarind to leave completely.
6. Add the asafoetida, stir for 1 min and then add the eggplant pulp
7. Mix until well incorporated, add some salt and let it cook for another 5-8min. If the gravy is too thick, add little warm water until it comes to the desired consistency and if too watery,, let it boil for some more time until it thickens.
8. Goes fabulously well with Pongal, can also be eaten with rice.

Related Posts

Baba Ghanoush By DK on Mar 14, 2008
Eggplant Basil Pesto Pasta By DK on Sep 17, 2010
Ven Pongal By DK on Jan 7, 2009

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2 Member Reviews

By vitahavya on Jan 14, 2011

I made the gotsu; it was bit lumpy (egg plants i mean); but i guesss that tamarind was little too much for my taste.  but overall i enjoyed it.

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By Vardhini on Aug 24, 2010

This was very tasty and easy to put together. I already had the mashed eggplant in the fridge and it was a breeze. Had it with pongal. Nice combo.

12 Comments

By Radhika on Aug 27, 2010

Will make it for sure, we call it Gojju in Kannada & I love it when the eggplant is charred on charcoal. We actually don't boil it, eggplant, once charred is added directly to the tamarind water. Will try your version :)

By Lalita Vaidyanathan on Apr 27, 2010

:-P lovely recipe.very easy to follow. some Keralites make something called Kai Puli as an accopaniment to Dosais. basically squeezed tamarind juice in rasam consistency. it is made with raw tamarind juice. can you give me the recipe for Kai Puli

By sudha delhi on Jan 14, 2009

this is called vankaya pulusu pacchadi in telugu and we invariably eat it with rice. also for any devi festivals we make a dish called pulagam for naivedyam.This pulusu pacchadi goes with pulagam which is made of rice and moongdal. Its nice to see the exact picture of what my grandmother used to make. Thanks.

By Siri on Jan 11, 2009

the gotsu looks sooooo yummy Dhivs.. wish I cud grab the bowl and have with hot rice & a tbsp of melted ghee.. :))

Hugs,
Siri

By Vanamala on Jan 9, 2009

oh eggplant gotsu nice & yummy

By Gita's Kitchen on Jan 9, 2009

I am simply drooling over the picture, eggplant gotsu with pongal is such a mouth-watering combination...

By Gita's Kitchen on Jan 9, 2009

I am simply drooling over the picture, eggplant gotsu with pongal is such a mouth-watering combination...

By Priya on Jan 9, 2009

Yummy n lovely clicks, this is one of my fav n my mom's spl dish..

By DEESHA on Jan 9, 2009

that does look yummy. Iam gonna give this a try

By Curry Leaf on Jan 9, 2009

I was looking for a recipe for this.I also agree with Divya Kudua as well.Thanks.Its perfect.

By Divya Kudua on Jan 8, 2009

Have heard so much about kathrika kothsu from my tam friends..dont know why,I always thought this was a deep fried dish..;-)this one looks like a traditional konkani dish we prepare called vaingana sagle..similar method of charring the baingan and cooking it with spices..;-)

By FoodyGuru (Srimathi) on Jan 8, 2009

Looks very yummy. It is different from the way I am used to.