One of our readers, Ms. Jayalakshmy Ramanathan, shared this recipe from her mother. I have shared this with our readers and thank Ms. Jayalakshmy for her contribution.
Table of Contents
How to make
Brinjal Gojju is a flavorful dish. It is made by roasting brinjal (eggplant) and combining it with a variety of spices and ingredients. The process begins with preparing the brinjal. First, oil the brinjal and wrap it. Then, roast it in a microwave or over a direct flame until it is soft. While the brinjal cools, tamarind is soaked, and peanuts are coarsely ground.
Onions, green chilies, and ginger are chopped and sautéed with asafoetida in oil until the onions become transparent. The roasted brinjal is then mashed and blended with the sautéed mixture, soaked tamarind, and salt to form a paste. In a separate pan, mustard seeds and urad dal are tempered in oil. Then, the brinjal paste is added with turmeric and crushed roasted pappad.
Ground peanuts are mixed in for added texture. Finally, the dish is garnished with chopped coriander leaves before serving. Brinjal Gojju is a delicious and aromatic dish that pairs well with rice or flatbreads.
The brinjal gojju goes well with Curd Rice. This gojju can be served with “Rice Upma”, “Upma Kozhukattai” and even with idli/dosa.
Rice Upma
Difficulty: EasyThis rice upma is made with rice rawa and served with any chutney or sambar. This rice upma will take more time to cook than ordinary Bombay rawa upma.
Upma Kozhukattai
Difficulty: MediumThis Upma kozhukattai is made with rice rawa and coconut gratings. It is served with any spicy chutney.
Recipe
Brinjal Gojju
5
servings5
minutes15
minutesThe brinjal gojju goes well with Curd Rice. Also it can be served with “Rice Upma”, “Upma Kozhukattai” and even with idli/dosa.
Ingredients
Big violet coloured brinjal – 1 (Or 2 medium size)
Big onion – 1
Green chillies – 3 or 4
1 small size ginger grated
1 Lijjath pappad or ambika appalam
Peanuts roasted – 1 tablespoon
Tamarind – a small lemon size
Asafoetida Powder – 2 pinches
Turmeric Powder – 2 pinches
Oil – 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dal – 1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves – finely chopped -2 tablespoons
Salt – 3/4 teaspoon or as per taste
Directions
- Clean and dry the brinjal with a towel. Take a little gingelly oil on your finger and rub it on the big brinjal fully. Wrap the oil massaged brinjal with a cling wrap fully.
- Roast the brinjal in a microwave oven for 3 minutes. Microwave for one minute for each and give a turn to the other side of the brinjal. While roasting for 3 minutes if you see the brinjal become flat and soft, take it out from the oven. Allow it to cool. (See image in the next step)
- [If you followed step 2, skip this step]
Apply little oil over the brinjals and roast it in a direct flame. [Hold the brinjal using a tong or insert a sharp rod (like “Vadai Kambi”) into the brinjal and rotate it over direct flame till it is fully roasted and becomes black]. The picture below shows the brinjal before and after roasting. Allow to cool and remove the black skin.
- Soak tamarind in hot water.
- Grind the roasted peanuts coarsely or just pound it.
- Chop onion, green chillies and ginger into small pieces.
- In a kadai put a tablespoon of oil and when it is hot add asafoetida.
- Then add the chopped onion, green chillies and ginger and fry till the onion becomes transparent.
- Mash the grilled brinjal and put it in a mixie. Add fried onion, green chillies, ginger and the soaked tamarind (drain the excess water). Add salt and grind it to a paste.
- In a non-stick pan add the remaining oil and when it is hot add mustard seeds. When it starts pop up, add urad dal and fry till it become light brown.
- Add the ground brinjal paste. Add turmeric powder and mix well. Keep the stove on low flame.
- Roast the pappad in the microwave for 1 minute, giving 50 seconds for each side. Crush it into small pieces and add it to the brinjal.
- Add the ground peanuts and mix everything well.
- Transfer to a bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.