Kattarikai Gotsu - Eggplants In A Spicy Tamarind Sauce

KATTARIKAI GOTSU

This is a lip smacking dish from CHIDAMBARAM - one of the great temple towns in Tamil Nadu. Gotsu is a side dish to go with the Pongal and Samba Saadam which are offered to Lord Nataraja.
My sister - in - law is from Chidambaram and I learnt to prepare the  traditional kattarikai gotsu from her.She was very particular about using sesame oil in its preparation.


                                               


INGREDIENTS


The Chidambaram Kattarikai is seedless and is the size of ones fist.The colour is deep purple all over. Bigger eggplants can also be used and the quantity of the ingredients can be adjusted accordingly. I have used the ones which were available here.

Eggplants - 4
Tamarind - the size of a gooseberry
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Jaggery ( crushed ) - 1/4 tsp

FOR THE SPICE POWDER

Coriander seeds - 2 tbsps
Bengal gram dal - 2 tbsps
Red chillies - 8
asafoetida - a small piece / 1 pinch
Cumin seeds - 1 /2 tsp
Back pepper - 1/4 tsp
Feureek seeds - 1/4 tsp

FOR SEASONING

Sesame oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch

METHOD

1. Wash and wipe the eggplants thoroughly.
2. Rub the eggplants all over with a drop of sesame oil.
3. Grill the oiled eggplants one by one, directly placing them on a gas burner. Keep turning the eggplant till all the sides of the vegetable are done. The flavour is unique when grilled on direct fire.

                                               


(The eggplants can also be grilled in an electric oven or grill.)

4. Soak tamarind in warm water and extract a thick juice.
5.Heat a drop of oil and fry the asafoetida.
6. Now add the coriander seeds, bengal gram dal, red chillies, pepper and fenugreek seeds and roast till the ingrediants emanate a pleasant aroma.
7. Lastly add the cumin seeds and roast for one more minute.
8. Powder all the roasted and cooled ingredients and keep aside.
9. Peel the scalded skin of the eggplants and lightly mash the vegetable using the back of a ladle.

                                               


10. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.
11. When the mustard seeds splutter add the curry leaves and then the turmeric powder.
12. Immediately add the tamarind juice, salt, jaggery and the mashed eggplants.

13. Cook till the raw smell of the tamarind disappears.
14. Make a paste with the powdered ingredients adding little water and add this to the boiling gotsu.



                                               

15. Cook till the gotsu thickens and switch off the flame.

                                          

Enjoy the flavoursome tangy and spicy Chidambaram Kattarikai Gotsu with pongal . It tastes good with dosais and chapaties too.

Baby Shower Cake - Animal Theme

I made this baby shower cake with animal theme.

I baked French vanilla cake with butter cream frosting to make the fondant to stick. I mixed yellow, bright green, light green and purple color fondants separately to make the fondant base with yellow fondant, green for the grass and moss, and purple fondant to make the ribbon to write the message with butter cream icing. I put plastic cake topper animals, to make my work easy and also to look elegant.

It is fun to work with fondant, but at the same time hard to mix and roll out the fondant, but cutting shapes and designs is easy.

I am trying to work on the writing skills now. I hope this is not bad this time, because before I used to get happy birthday candles or edible cake toppers and just write the name by myself. But I decided to give it a try again. I am happy that it turned out pretty good.

Iyengar Bakery Khara Biscuit/Savory Shortbread Cookies Karnataka Special for ICC May Challenge

Its been quite a crazy month so, far. Kuttu still not well, now its the same old Weather Problem, Adenoids!!!!! After much waiting, the Doc started Anti-biotics yesterday, hopefully he gets better soon!!!!

This Month ICC is a Baking Challenge.  Srivalli has chosen Karanataka Special Khara Biscuits from Champa's Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen. It was a Quick Recipe to Make and Quite a pleaser!!!! My Hubby Loved the taste, though his xerox wanted a Sweet one!!!!

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Butter - 5 TBSP + 1 tsp
Sugar - 4 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 2 - 3 TBSP (start with 2 TBSP)

To Grind  Coarsely
Green Chillies - 6 chopped fine or more per taste
Cilantro - chopped 2 - 3 TBSP (See Notes)
Curry leaves a few
1 tsp Cumin seeds

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Line the baking tray with parchment paper. If you line them with aluminum foil, very lightly grease with vegetable oil spray. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar till creamy. Add the 2 TBSP yogurt and continue to beat.  Add the dry ingredients and beat slowly. Use your hands to work the dough, don't use too much of pressure, Now add the coarsely ground mixture to the dough, if necessary, another TBSP of yogurt. I added ½ tbsp of yoghurt at this stage and worked the dough. 

The Original recipe, calls for Chopping the chillies and coriander finely and adding it to the dough. But, I didn’t know whether my kid will like this savory biscuit or not, if at all he likes it, he would prefer a smooth texture, so, I grinded the ingredients for the Kharam to a Coarse mixture.

Roll the dough and Cut with your cookie cutters. Place on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Do not forget to rotate halfway. Since these do not have lot of sugar or soda, they don't brown on the top much. Bottom will have a golden brown when done. You might feel they are still soft when done, but they will get firm when cool. 

I wanted Crispy Cookies, so i baked 2 minutes extra to get it crispy. Cool them on the  wire rack  and transfer to an air tight container. Stays fresh for 4 days. 

Notes

Champa Suggests to experiment with the flavors, Try using Cracked Pepper/Mint instead of chillies/cilantro.