“KhatHa- MeetHa- TeekHa Tendle- Bikkanda Gojju (Ivy Gourd- jackfruit Seeds Curry)” … a blend of tastes makes a little bit of gojju served as a side dish with any other dishes makes the meals that much more tastier … try this chatpata/ tongue tickling delicious side dish/ gojju and serve it with rice/ poori/ roti/ idly/ dosa/ oondi or any other dish of your choice; tastes awesome … Yummilicious …
** I always enjoy trying out any dish suggested by friends/ something that catches my interest on net. I usually adapt recipes and give my own twist to bring it to our liking at home. One of our friend who came from hometown brought lots of tendle/ ivy gourd/ tondli/ tondekayi/ gherkins from their own farm and shared them with all friends. After finishing off with talasani, bhutti, upkari etc. there is still some more I need to finish within a coming few days as tendle does not store well in fridge, say maximum a week.
** I browse through loads of recipe, but found nothing that was simple and appealing, finally my friend suggested gojju, a very old recipe from southern parts of India that I hardly prepare these days. The suggestion really did awaken my mood as I realized I needed to share this recipe that was something different which I had prepared decades back. There are two ways of preparing this gojju, one which I am sharing and the other with onion and garlic, as it was Ekadashi, I prefered this version and here it is for all.
** Here is my “KhatHa- MeetHa- TeekHa Tendle- Bikkanda Gojju (Ivy Gourd- jackfruit Seeds Curry)” … my style, try it, tastes wondeful …
** Ingredients :
Tendle/ Tondekayi/ Tondli/ Ivy Gourd/ Gherkins : about 25 medium sized.
Bikkanda/ Jackfruit Seeds : 10-12
Hinga Uddaka/ Water prepared out of Asafoetida in gummy form : 1 tblsp
(Check how to prepare hinga uddaka at the bottom of this recipe)
OR
Hing/ Asafoetida Powder : 1tsp (to be added in tempering)
Tamarind/ Chinchama/ Imly : small lemon sized ball
Jaggery/ Goda/ Bella : 2-3 tblsp grated
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste
** To be coarsely ground :
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : 2-3 tblsp
Green Chilly/ Tarni Mirsanga/ Hari Mirchi : 5-6
Ginger/ Adrak/ Alle’ : Just a small piece, say ¼ inch
** For Tempering/ Pannaka/ Tadka :
Coconut Oil/ Nariyal Tel/ Narlel Tela : 1 tsp
Urad Dal/ Split Black Gram : 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds/ Rai/ Sasam : 1 tsp
Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 10-12 fresh leaves
Dry Red Chilly/ Sukki Mirsanga/ Sooki Mirchi : 2-3
** Wash tendle/ Ivy gourd, check and remove any dirt particles sticking to it. Slice off the both the side edges and cut them into two pieces horizontally.
** Remove the outer skin of dried bikkanda/ jackfruit seeds, wash and then either crush them with a weight/ stone or slice/ cut them to pieces.
** Add the tendle- bikkand pieces into a pressure cooker pan along with 1 cup of water and pressure cook on medium heat to 3-4 whistles.
** Note : You can use fresh/ frozen bikkanda for this recipe. I had fresh ones as they are in season now, so used the same. I am sharing link to method of freezing at the bottom of this recipe, try it, bikkand remains good for over 6 months.
** Note : Please do not add excess water while pressure cooking. Gojju is a thick consistency dish and excess water will make it thinner textured. Again, pressure cook until they turn mushy as we will need to mash them well.
** Let the pressure in the cooker fall on itself, open the lid and let cool for 5 minutes, then with the help of hand/ a potato masher/ weight gently mash them together until they are evenly blended and mashed, do not make it too fine and do not use mixer grinder or hand blender or any other machinery for mashing lest it turns too smooth.
** To be coarsely ground : Add coconut, green chilly and ginger into a mixer grinder and grind to a coarse paste without adding water. If absolutely necessary then mix well, sprinkle water and further grind, remove and keep it ready.
** Soak tamarind in little water for 10 minutes, gently mash, squeeze, strain and add the paste to mashed tendle- bikkanda mixture. Add hinga uddaka (prepared asafoetida water), grated jaggery, salt to taste and mix well until its well blended. This gojju is thick textured, so be careful and add water only if necessary, I have actually not added water the pressure cooked one was more than enough.
** Note : This is a KhatHa- MeetHa- TeekHa (Amshe’- Godshe’- Tikshe’/ Tangy- sweet- spicy) gojju. All three flavours need to be balanced to make it tongue tickling, so do not cut out on quantity of any ingredients. Both tendle and jackfruit seeds are sweeter by nature and an extra dose of spices is indeed needed for best in taste.
** Note : You can increase jaggery as I have added a little bit less compared to the need. The spice level too can be increased if desired, all these are individual preferences, just see to it that you bring out the best taste. Remember to add the mentioned amount of tamarind to balance the spicy- sweet taste, its needed, so do not make the mistake of cutting down on the same. Try it once, before you make much changes.
** For Tempering/ Pannaka/ Tadka : Heat coconut oil in a small pan, add urad dal when it turns slightly in color add mustard seeds, when they begin to splutter add curry leaves, dry red chillies cut to pieces and fry for a minute only. If adding hing/ asafoetida powder then add along with chillies. Remove and pour this over the prepared and kept gojju, mix well and keep it aside covered to infuse in flavors for 30 minutes.
** Note : I once again mention, please do not add both hinga uddaka (prepared asafoetida water) and hing powder, you just need to add either one only otherwise the gojju will turn bitter. The prepared water can be added as it is and the powder form will have to added into the tempering for best in taste.
** “KhatHa- MeetHa- TeekHa Tendle- Bikkanda Gojju (Ivy Gourd- jackfruit Seeds Curry)” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served as a side dish with roti/ poori/ rice/ dosa/ idly/ oondi. However, you can serve it with any other dish of your choice too, as it goes well with any. Try it, sure to be loved by your family if they like south Indian dishes. I once again mention to please prepare it spicier, tangier and sweeter than what you would have with other dishes to bring out the best taste.
** By the way, before I forget, let me mention that this gojju is not cooked again, ie. only the tendle/ ivy gourd and bikkanda/ jackfruit seeds are pressure cooked while other ingredients are added on as it is mentioned in the proceedure. In GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine most of the Gojju or Bajji are not cooked at later stage, if you are new to our cuisine, then do try them, they are not only tasty but lighter on tummy too.
** I will soon be sharing the other version with the same gojju, till then try this one out and enjoy with your family. I had prepared this for meals to be served along with poori along with moong dal usli (bhaji) and kokum taak (buttermilk) as today being Ekadashi, in my home we keep meals simple with NO onion- garlic- rice or non. Veg. My next post in Blog, is the Thali, in which I served it, you may check it out for visuals.
** For more “Gojju/ Bajji” recipes, please follow the common links shared below …
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