Eggplant / Brinjal Gotsu

Eggplant/Brinjal gotsu is a traditional recipe and a perfect accompaniment for Ven pongal. Ven pongal with gotsu is one of the popular South Indian breakfast. It is a very simple recipe which is prepared from eggplants, mung dal along with other spices.

Preparation time – 20 min
Cooking time – 20 min
Serves – 4

Ingredients:

Eggplant/Brinjals – 4 medium sized, chopped into small pieces
Mung dal – 1/2 cup
Tomatoes – 2 small sized, chopped
Tamarind extract – 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
Salt – as required
Curry leaves – few, chopped
Cilantro/Coriander leaves – few finely chopped
Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
Red chili – 2
Green chilies – 2
Grated coconut – 4 tbsp
Oil – 2 tbsp

Ingredients required for dry roasting and grinding:

Coriander seeds – 2 tbsp
Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Jeera – 1 tsp
Black peppercorns – 1 tsp
Fenugreek/Methi seeds – 1/2 tsp
Red chilies – 5

Method:

1. Wash the mung dal couple of times and soak it for 20 min. Drain the water and add it to the pressure cooker along with enough water and cook it for 1 whistle. The cooked mung dal should not be mushy. Grate the coconut and set aside.

2. In a pan dry roast coriander seeds, chana dal, urad dal, jeera, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds and red chilies on a medium flame till nice aroma comes. Allow it to cool down and grind it to a fine powder and set aside.

3. In a pan add in 2 tbsp of oil and allow it to heat up. Add in mustard seeds and when it splutters add in red chilies and saute for 10 sec. Now add in tomatoes, green chilies and curry leaves and cook till the tomatoes are well cooked.

4. Now add in the chopped eggplants/brinjal and saute well. Add salt and turmeric powder. Add in the tamarind extract along with some water and let the eggplants cook well on a medium flame for 5 min.

5. Add in the cooked mung dal and mix well. Add some water if required and allow it to boil on a medium flame for 5 min.

6. Now add in the ground powder according to your taste to the gravy and mix. Allow it to boil for 5 min. Adjust the salt and the consistency according to your taste. Finally add in the finely chopped cilantro and mix well.