Brinjal~Moong Dal Curry / Kathirikkai Gotsu.

"Brinjal~Moong Dal Curry (Kathirikkai Gotsu)" ... Gotsu is a delicious South Indian Curry, would say it's closer to sambar or kootu and can be served as a side dish with mildly spiced rice dishes like pongal / khichidi / pulav or even roti / parathas … Tastes crunchy and yumz … 

** Brinjal is a very versatile dish and many delicious dishes can be tried out of the same. We Konkani Saraswat’s usually added it to sambar or had some gravy dishes prepared with the same. In the last two decades the technology has changed so much that nowadays everything is available at finger tips. I had hundreds of cookery books many of which I disposed off and still have around 200 bks, but however I never find the time to go through them. The coming of internet and access at fingertips have changed my reading habits from paper to screen. I read a lot or should I say I read anything under the sky that interests me. It can be spiritual, comics, jokes, autobiographies, fictions but suspense or law books hold my interest the most. To break down the monotony in between I browse recipes and it so happened a few year back, I was bored with preparing brinjals the usual amchi way, so browsed for the same. Being a south Indian, my tastes lean more toward south Indian dishes than North Indian. I love them too, but somehow, the addition of garam masala to dishes somehow puts me off on regular basis. I prefer mildly spiced dishes, even for pulav, I cut down on the mentioned garam masala addition many a times. So I read about this Kathirikkai Gotsu a dish mostly prepared by Tamilians. 

After reading it in many versions, I asked my tamil friend about it and she gave me her version too. Finally, I picked up some from here and there and prepared my own way. But this is a delicious semi dry curry, somewhere a cross between sambar or kootu which we prepare in the south. In all a great dish that goes well with mildly spiced pulav or chapati, traditionally this is served with pongal/khichidi, but I relish it many a times with chapati. I love the taste of the chapati dunked in thick textured curry. I also keep the moong dal just cooked and avoid making it mushy like the original recipe, coz. we like the crunch texture of the dal with roti. Do try this awesome dish, it’s easy to prepare and comes handy when you want to serve a few extra dishes that goes well with both rice item as well as roti/parathas. Also, I must mention here that the brinjal definitely gets a face lift from the routine types of dishes. You can prepare this with any brinjal, green, purple, eggplant, small ones or any type that’s available in your vicinity. Just see to it that you do not cut them into very small pieces lest it gets mashed off in the curry, When cooked the pieces should remain visible. I used green large sized brinjals available now in Mumbai. 

** Here is my simple method of preparing "Brinjal~Moong Dal Curry (Kathirikkai Gotsu)" … My Style ….. 

** Ingredients : 

Moong Dal / Green Gram Dal (skinned) : ¾ - 1 cup 

Brinjal / Vangi / Gulla / Vaingana : One medium sized cut into cubes (about 3 cups) 

Onion / Kanda / Piyav : 1 large sized cut into cubes 

Tomato / Tamatar : 2 medium sized cut into cubes 

Jaggery / Gud / Goda : 2 tblsp grated. 

Coriander Leaves / Dhania patta / Kottambari pallo : one handful finely chopped. 

Salt to taste 

** For Tempering : 

Oil : 1 tblsp 

Ghee : 1 tbsp 

Urad Dal / Black gram dal : ½ tsp 

Cumin Seeds / Jeera : 1 tsp 

Mustard Seeds / Sasam / Rai : 1 tsp 

Ajwain / Carom Seeds : a pinch 

Kashmiri Red Chillies : 3-4 (or any chilly +/- depending upon spice level) 

Green Chillies / Hirvi Mirchi / Tarni Mirsanga : 2-3 (less spicy one) 

Curry Leaves / Kadipatta / Karbev : 8-10 fresh leaves 

Asafoetida / Hing : ½ - 1 tsp depending upon the aroma 

Turmeric / Haldi Powder : ¼ tsp 

Sambar Powder : 1 heaped tblsp. 

** Wash and add the moong dal in pressure cooker pan with just enough water, say about an inch above the dal and pressure cook to just one whistle and remove from fire. Do not add in more water while cooking and let the pressure fall on its own, once you are able to open the lid do, and keep the dal ready aside. 

** Note : I do not like this particular dal preparation to turn mushy, so I cook it to only one whistle, if you like the dal to be mushy you can cook to 2-3 whistles back to back and remove from fire. Also, I do not churn the dal, while some just slightly do so. Choose what suits you the best. If you like crunchier or if you are serving with roti, I suggest you do not churn the same. 

** In a thick bottomed kadai add in the brinjal pieces and about one cup of hot water and bring it to a boil, when it comes to a full boil, lower the heat, mix the brinjal pieces well, cover and cook till half done. Once it is half done add in the onion pieces and the tomato pieces and mix well. 

** Now add in the cooked dal to the above veggies and mix all well together. Add in water to bring to a thick consistency and let it simmer aside while we prepare the tempering for the curry. Do keep mixing often and keep the flame minimum. 

** For Tempering : In a pan add in the oil and the ghee together and bring to heat, when hot, lower the heat to medium and add in the urad dal, when it starts to slightly change in color, lower the heat to minimum and add in the cumin and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start spluttering, add in the green cut lengthwise, red chillies cut to pieces, and curry leaves and further fry for a few seconds. Finally add in the carom seeds, hing, turmeric and sambar powder and fry for a minute. Remove and pour over the simmering curry. 

** Once the tempering is added to the cooking veggies, mix well and check the consistency of the curry, if needed add some water, salt to taste, grated jaggery and mix well, simmer for 5 minutes on low heat till the curry has cooked really well and the jaggery has melted. But also see to it that you do not overcook the dal or the veggies. Lastly garnish with the coriander leaves and remove from fire and keep it aside covered for 15 minutes for the flavors to seep in. 

** "Brinjal~Moong Dal Curry (Kathirikkai Gotsu)" is done and ready to be served. This is a semi dry consistency South Indian Curry, basically from the Tamilian community and is somewhat has the likes of sambar or kootu. The dish tastes awesome when served with mildly spiced rice dishes or with chapatti too. Do try this out and relish with your family and friends. 

** You can use the search option for "Curry" where you will get many more combinations of the same prepared using different Ingredient. Do try out various types of dishes to relish with yummy side dishes that are also included in the Blog. Just use the labels on the right side of the blog for various types of dishes. Enjoy the dishes with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. 

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