Pineapple Gojju

Ok so am back this new year and as all things new I promise to post more frequently.

This is a favorite dish in our household and its spicy and tangy at the same time.  Dad loved this concoction and it was something he would always make when he decided to cook though he liked the tomato gojju better. I do not have any other story related to this other than the fact that this is a great dish to eat. Enjoy! Delish! Relish!

This dish serves 6 people.
Time to prep: 10 mins
Time to cook: 30 mins


For this you will need the following

Ingredients:


 A small can of crushed pineapple or
    a small can of pineapple chunks

Black Mustard seeds --1/2 tsp

Vathakozhambu (Gojju) powder-- 2 tbsp (This is available readymade in the Indian grocery store)*

Cumin seeds --1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds -- 1/4 tsp

Green chillies--3 (can tone it down if you dont like it too spicy)

Curry leaves --3 leaves

Ginger (grated) --1 tsp

Turmeric powder---a pinch

Asafoedita powder (Hing)--a pinch (optional but gives a lot of flavor) 

Olive oil --1 tsp (for saute)

Tamarind-- 1/2 a lemon size  (the quantity shown in the picture is more than 1/2 a lemon size)

Salt to taste

Tamarind

Preparation:

Take the tamarind and put it in a microwave safe bowl and press it flat and add 1/2 cup of water to this and microwave it for a minute and a half.  Let it cool and then set it for another minute.  We are basically looking to soak the tamarind and extract the juice.  Hence the whole process. 

Now add a cup of water to this and squeeze the tamarind with your hand.  It will start disintegrating and the water will start turning a light brown as the juice extracts.  Use a tea strainer to strain this water so the chunks or fiber from the tamarind stay back. Discard all seeds if you find any in the tamarind.

Turn on the stove to a medium heat.

Heat the oil in a 3qt sauce pan and add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splatter add the green chillies, curry leaves, ginger and saute this till the green chillies turn a little white.

Now add the cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, asafoedita powders,  gojju powder and turn off the stove and move the pan to a non heated surface.

Now add the pineapple chunks or crushed pineapple with the juice and let this boil for 10 mins.  Keep checking so that the bottom part of this mixture doesnt stick to the pot.

Now add the tamarind juice extract and add another 1/2 cup of water.  Let this boil for about 15 mins. You will start getting the smell of the gojju.

Now add salt.

When you see the oil separating from the mixture, turn off the stove.  The gojju is ready.

Eat this with just plain rice or serve it hot with dal tadka (recipe to follow in the next post) and rice

* I used Grand Sweets Vathakozhambu powder, there are other brands available in the Indian grocery stores here. I believe Aachi is one of the brands.
  Curry-n-spice tip:

• I generally use a pyrex 2 cup measuring glass for extracting the tamarind juice
• Set it for a minute first as the water will boil and rise up and overflow. Microwave wattages and settings are different.  Sometimes you might need to keep it for 3 mins to soften the tamarind.
• You can also use the coffee paper filters for this process if you dont have a tea strainer handy just be careful how much you pour into the filter.
• Tamarind juice extracts are readily available but they dont bring out the taste as good as the pulp extract that you make yourself like described above.