Kudane gojji/ Turkey Berry gojju :

Kudane, Thai brinjal, is widely used in our coastal region. We use it in its fresh, raw form, not dried. Earlier, it grew as a wild plant, and people never cultivated it. When my mother in law offered a sapling, I was excited and took the plant with me. Now, it is a part of my terrace garden and yields well.

Solanum torvum is its Scientific name. It also has many other names such as wild eggplant, baby brinjal, Devil’s fig, sundakai in Tamil and Usthi kai in Telugu.

 It is not only a nutritional powerhouse; it can heal our gut ( various intestinal issues ) and increase haemoglobin levels. It is one more locally-grown veggie, much neglected by us.

The taste of the turkey berry is more on a bitter side. Berry has to be processed in a particular way to eradicate its bitterness and to enhance the flavour. There are two ways to process.

The cleaning process is simple. The first one is to remove the stalk, crush it gently, and immerse it in water until you are done crushing every berry. Now, just before cooking, wash it a couple of times; in this way, most of the woody seeds settle at the bottom. Collect those cleaned berries, and proceed to cook according to the recipe, the recipe is HERE

If you opt for the second process, you need to fry those berries after washing them with Ghee or Oil. Then, mash a little and proceed to cook.

Now, let us know the recipe of Gojji / gojju. It is raw curry, no cooking recipe. If you are a person who is fond of sweet-sour-hot curry, this is for you.

Ingredients:

Fresh Turkey berries – 15 – 20

Ghee or coconut oil – 1 tsp.

Tamarind – small gooseberry size.

Onion – ½ (chopped)

Green chillies – 2 Or Bird eye chillies – 4 -6

Jaggery – grated

Salt – to taste

Seasoning: Coconut oil – 1 tsp, mustard – ½ tsp, crushed garlic – 6 – 8, curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

-Soak tamarind in ¼ cup of water.

 

-Remove stalks from the berries, wash properly.

-Take one small Kadai, put ghee or Oil, fry those berries until it turns light/ pale and starts bursting. Switch off the flame.

-Take one spoon, mash a little by using the back of the spoon.

-Now, extract tamarind juice, add it to the crushed berries. Add in salt, jaggery, chopped onions, crush the green chillies and check the taste and adjust.

-Now, heat oil, splutter mustard, fry garlic until it is brown. Add curry leaves and pour over the gojju. Serve with plain rice or with curd rice.

 

Hog Plum/Ambatekayi Gojju:

We call hog plum as “Amtekai” in Kannada and as “ambate” in our local language. In our region you will find 2 varieties of hog plums. One is Wild variety which is also known as Indian sour hog plum and the other one is known as grafted or Kashi Amtekai/ hog plum.  Grafted variety is nothing but Hog plums which we normally find in South America or South East Asia. Also known as Ambarella or Golden apple which belongs to the specie – spondias dulcis.

Wild variety is normally used in pickle making or as a souring agent in some of the traditional curries because of its sour taste. When it matures, seed becomes hard and skin becomes thin. Here I have used normal hog plum, which has a fibrous core and when it matures, skin will turn green to yellow and sweetish in taste. People use this as a fruit as well.

Gojju/ Gojji is an essential side dish of our community. Which is a semi solid, tamarind based, sweet and sour curry, which can be relished as it is with hot rice, or as an accompaniment with curd rice as well. Some of the gojjus taste good with Dosa or Idli as well.

Ingredients:

Hog plums – 7 to 8

Jaggery – 2 to 4 table spoons

Salt

Red chilli powder – 1 tea spoon

Seasoning:

Coconut Oil – 1 table spoon

Mustard – 1 tea spoon

Garlic cloves – 8 to 10 (sliced)

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

-Wash and cook hog plums in sufficient water by adding salt, jaggery, red chilli powder in a pressure cooker.

-One whistle is more than enough for this veggie to cook.

-When it is cooked, outer skin layer will separate, inner flesh will become soft.

-Mash a little by using back of the serving spoon, to give a texture to the curry.

-Mix everything and check for salt, hot and sweet. Add whatever is needed.

-Curry should taste tangy, hot and sweet.

-Boil this and add seasoning.

-Heat oil, splutter mustard, add sliced garlic. When garlic becomes brown, add curry leaves and pour this over curry.

-Serve as a side dish with rice or curd rice.

Note:

-Usage of garlic is purely optional.

 

 

 

 

Pineapple Menaskai/ Gojju:

Menaskai/Menaskayi is one of our coastal specialities, which is a hot, sweet and sour, sesame flavoured coconut-based curry. Normally made with bitter or tangy things like Bitter gourd, raw mango, wild mango or pineapple. We even prepare by mixing Bitter gourd and raw mango as well. It is a common dish in any of our elaborate menus for festivities, usually served on a plantain leaf, like poojas or weddings. This same curry is prepared in a little different way in other parts of Karnataka and known as “Gojju”.

Here, the main trick is-balancing of all the flavours.

If you are preparing with sour vegetable or fruit, there is no need to add additional tamarind. For example, if you are preparing raw mango or mixture of bitter gourd and raw mango Menaskai, there is no need to add tamarind. If you are using pineapple, tamarind should be added.

Here I have used pineapple and the procedure goes like this-

Ingredients:

Pineapple – 1/2 (chopped into bits)

Raw mango – 1/4 (chopped into bits)

Tamarind – gooseberry size (if the mango is not available)

Jaggery – as needed

Salt

Green chillies – 2 (slit)

For masala:

Fresh Coconut gratings – 1 to 1 ½ cups

Methi seeds – 1/4 tsp

Urad dal – 2 teaspoons

Sesame seeds – 2 teaspoons (U can use black or white)

Dried red chillies – 8 – 10 (we use Byadagi variety)

Coconut oil – 2 to 3 teaspoons (1 for roasting + 1 for seasoning + 1 tsp to garnish)

Mustard – 1 tsp

Dried red chilli -1

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Method:

-Clean pineapple by removing the outer skin, chop into bite-size pieces.

Ribbet collage 1

-Cook pineapple pieces and mango pieces or tamarind with little water, turmeric, salt, jaggery, green chillies and curry leaves.

-Dry roast sesame seeds. Now fry all the masalas for grinding. First heat 1 tsp of oil, put methi(fenugreek) seeds. When it is light brown, add all the other ingredients like urad dal,  red chillies and fry until urad dal is light brown. Now it is the time to put coconut and fry further for 2 minutes or until you smell the nice aroma.

-Cool the mixture, grind into a paste by adding sesame seeds and sufficient water as well.

-Add this paste to the cooked pineapple, check for salt and jaggery. Adjust the consistency by adding water and boil nicely in a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

-After boiling, add 1 tsp of raw coconut oil as well as the seasoning with coconut oil, mustard, red chilli and curry leaves. Close the lid and leave it to soak all the masalas for half an hour.

-Serve with hot rice.

Note:

-After boiling, the gravy should be a little thicker than normal sambar.

-Taste should be sweet, sour, hot. So adjust the addition of jaggery accordingly.

– We usually relish this dish the next day of preparation, usually with Neer Dosa or chapati/Roti. 😊