CHIDAMBARAM GOTHSU | BRINJAL/KATHIRIKKAAI|EGGPLANT GOTHSU

This Chidambaram gothsu /Brinjal gothsu கத்திரிக்காய் கொத்சு  is my all time favourite sidedish for idly. Actually I tasted this mostly in marriages only. Because my mom and mil’s recipe for kathirikaai gothsu is different.Also in home cooking we won't use this much oil  for gothsu, but the professional cook’s gothsu will be having more oil, & of course very tasty J

I just tried to replicate the gothsu like that which we used to eat in marriages and got almost same of that taste and texture. I am really very happy with that outcome.

In most of our marriages this chidambaram gothsu will be there as side dish for idly either for dinner or breakfast without fail.

Now let's move on to the recipe.   

VIDEO RECIPE:

CHIDAMBARAM GOTHSU RECIPE TYPE: SIDE DISH | CUISINE:SOUTH INDIAN | SERVES:3 PERSONS |PREPARATION TIME:5 Min| COOKING TIME:20 TO 25 Min INGREDIENTS: Kathirikkaai/Brinjal/Egg plant      3 medium size Onion                                             1 Tamarind                                        A small goose berry size Salt                                                 As per your taste Powdered Jaggery                          1 tbls To make the gothsu powder Red chillies                                     6 or 7 Coriander seeds                              1 tbls Fenugreekseeds                              ½ tsp For tempering Sesame oil/Gingelly oil                    2 tbls Mustard seeds                                   1 tsp Urad dhal                                          1 tbls Channa dhal                                      1 tbls Curry leaves                                      few                         *tbls: Table spoon ||tsp: Teaspoon METHOD: Keep all the ingredients ready. Dry roast the red chillies , coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds till golden brown. Let it cool and grind them together as fine powder. Roast the brinjal in direct fire in low flame for few minutes.ie., until the skin becomes brown coloured and soft. Then wash and cut them into small pieces. This step is just to get a little smoky flavour in our gothsu. In a heavy bottomed kadai add oil. Once it becomes hot add mustard seeds and let it splutter, the add urad dhal channa dhal. Then add curry leaves, onions and saute until onion becomes translucent. Then add the chopped /mashed brinjals and saute well. Add salt and tamarind juice .Close the lid and let it cook. Once it cooked, add the ground powder and mix well. Add little water and let it boil. Once it becomes thick and raw smell of the powder goes, add jaggery and mix well. Let it boil for 2 or 3 mins and switch off the stove.  Add 1 tbls of gingelly oil on top if required. NOTES: ·        I have roasted the brinjal just for few minutes, to avoid over smoky flavour. U can roast well on direct fire and peel off the skin and mash. ·        While adding the powder if u feel that the brinjal are not mixing well you can mash them with back of the laddle or use maththu as I did. ·        Use of shallots gives good taste and flavour. You can use finely chopped big onions also.

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GM DIET SOUP RECIPE -WITH VIDEO

This is very simple soup that we can take while in GM Diet. It is a very delicious soup.While in GM Diet this soup will definitely satisfy your taste buds.

For fifth day of the soup you can have this. Other days also one time per day you can take this without guilt.
  

VIDEO RECIPE:

GM DIET SOUP  RECIPE TYPE: STARTER | CUISINE:CONTINENTAL | SERVES:2 PERSONS |PREPARATION TIME:5 Min| COOKING TIME:15 TO 20 Min INGREDIENTS: Cabbage                           1/2 cup(Finely Chopped) Bell pepper                       ½ (Finely chopped) Salt                                    For taste Olive Oil                           ½ tsp Onion                                 1 (Finely Chopped) Tomato                               1(Finely Chopped) Pepper powder                   For taste Ginger                                1 inch piece(Finely chopped)         Garlic                                 3 cloves(Finely chopped) METHOD: Keep all the ingredients ready. In a heavy bottomed kadai heat oil and fry ginger and garlic. Then add onion and saute till half cooked. Add the vegetables and saute well. Add the water and let it boil. Add salt and mix well. Let it boil for  5 to 10 mins and then switch off the stove. Add the pepper powder and serve hot. NOTES:               Add very little oil only, if possible it is better to avoid oil completely while in GM diet.           I have added Sweet corn also , that is optional.           Use minimum salt while in diet.

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SOJJI /ARISI SUNDAL(சொஜ்ஜி /அரிசி சுண்டல்)

Sojji is a very easy dish. We can call it as sister of our normal Upma :)

In our house it is very common and prepared once in a week or twice.

It uses the raw rice and green gram as main ingredients.

Other traditional sojji recipes:

• Puli sundal/Puli sojji
• Karamani payaru Sojji

I have already posted this recipe in tamil in my another blog kuzhaliyinpagirvugal.

http://kuzhaliyinpagirvugal.blogspot.com/2014/04/2-1.html

SOJJI RECIPE TYPE: BREAKFAST/DINNER | CUISINE: SOUTH INDIAN | SERVES:2 PERSONS |PREPARATION TIME:5 Min| COOKING TIME:15 TO 20 Min INGREDIENTS: Raw rice                                                                             1 cup Green GramlPayatham paruppu /Paasi paruppu                ½ cup Mustard Seeds                                                                    1 tlbp Channa dhal                                                                        2 tbls      Urad Dhal                                                                           1 tbls Asofoetida                                                                           1tsp Red chilly                                                                              2 Green Chilly                                                                         2 Onion                                                                                    1 medium size Curry Leaves                                                                        1 Oil                                                                                          For tempering Salt                                                                                         As needed Water                                                                                    2 1/2cups Ginger                                                                                    1 inch piece METHOD: First dry roast the rice and green gram separately till golden brown. Finely chop onion, green chillies and ginger and keep aside. In a heavy bottomed pan or pressure cooker add oil and let it heat. Add mustard seeds and wait till all crackle completely, then add red chillies, channa dhal, urad dhal and asafoetida. Once they turned golden brown add onion, Green chillies, ginger,and curry leaves. Saute them well. Add the water and let it boil.  Add rice ,green gram and salt . Mix well and close with a lid till fully cooked.  If doing in pressure cooker, cook till 2 whistles and open after the pressure released. Serve hot. Tastes great with coconut chutney or onion tomato chutney. NOTES: You can add coconut while serving. Carrots, beans also can be added for variation. Green gram can be reduced if u feel it as more. But if you add as mentioned definitely it will tastes great. I have already posted this in Tamil in my another blog  http://kuzhaliyinpagirvugal.blogspot.com/2014/04/2-1.html

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WHEAT(GOTHUMAI) HALWA / THIRUNELVELI HALWA USING WHEAT FLOUR

During my childhood I was not that much fond of halwa. Later got some interest on this. While thinking of halwa that process and work only will come to my mind before the taste :) also our funny halwa making attempts.

Few times i have seen the making of halwa while my mom prepared for deepavali. Usually my appa will help because it will be difficult to stir continuously as a single person while preparing with more in quantity

Later we (myself, my sister and appa) have prepared this sweet for few deepavali and each time the final product was in different texture and look and only once it came out almost like halwa. :) one time it was like Gum and other time it was like halwa stone :). My appa broke that using ammi kuzhavi really... and ate like chikki :)

Traditionally  Samba wheat is used to make halwa and use red colour powder as colouring agent.

But here i used wheat flour instead of whole wheat and used caramelized sugar for colour.

Though it looks as lengthy process, the final product will make you to forget all those things. That much delicious it will be.

VIDEO RECIPE:

WHEAT HALWA RECIPE TYPE: SWEET | CUISINE: INDIAN | YIELD: ½ Kg TO ¾ Kg    PREPARATION TIME: 5 Min | SOAKING TIME: 3 TO 4 Hr |  COOKING TIME: 60 TO 75 Min INGREDIENTS: •          Wheat flour                       1 cup •          Ghee                                  1 cup •          Sugar                                 2 cups & 1/4 cup to Caramelize •          Water                                 5 1/2 cups •          Cardamom Powder           1 tsp •          Cashew nuts                     10 to 15              (*tsp: Teaspoon | tbls: Table spoon) METHOD: Knead the Flour as chapatti dough using 1/2 cup water. Soak that dough in remaining 5 cups of water for 3 to 4 hours. Fry cashew nuts in 1 tbls of ghee and set aside After 3 hrs mix the dough well with hands to extract the milk. Filter the milk using a thin cloth or tea filter. Use the soaked water to extract the milk. Take a heavy bottomed kadai preferably non-stick and pour the extracted milk and allow it to boil. After 15 to 20 min it will start to get thick. Add 2 cups sugar and stir continuously. After around 30 minutes prepare caramelized sugar to give the colour to our halwa. In another dry kadai add the ¼ cup sugar and 2 tbls ghee and keep in medium flame and stir. Sugar starts to melt and caramelize. Once you get thick brown colour add the caramelized syrup in to the boiling wheat milk and mix well. Take care while adding the caramelized syrup as it will spill. Add the 1tbls of melted ghee a a time and stir continuously. Now you can see the halwa gets its colour and it becomes little darker while getting thicker consistency. Add the fried cashews and cardamom powder in between and stir, stir, stir… Heat should be in medium level all the time. In between add 1 tbls ghee at regular intervals. At one stage the halwa will starts to ooze the ghee, and comes as single mass ie., it won’t stick with the pan and come nicely and shiny. Remove from heat and serve. NOTES: If you want the halwa to be more sweeter you can add more ¼ cup of sugar. But 2 cups is enough. You can mix ¼ cup of oil with ¾ cup ghee. While cooling the ghee in halwa becomes solidify so if u wish u can heat in microwave oven and serve hot. I want the little crunchy cashews so added after 1 hour. You can add in the beginning also. For me it took around 1 hr 15 minutes to complete.

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