Bitter gourd is a vegetable which not all like. But here is a dish which is not like any other bitter gourd dish. It has a special taste, a combination of sweet, tangy, spicy and a light touch of bitterness. 
It makes a good combination with rasam and rice. I like to have it as a side dish for chapathi and dosa. 

Prep. time: 25-30 mins
Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS:

Bitter Gourd: 2-3 nos. (medium sized)
Tamarind paste: 1/2 tsp
Jaggery (powdered): 1/2 cup
Asafoetida: a pinch
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Water: 2 cups
Ghee/oil for tempering
Salt

For grinding:
Corriander seeds: 1 1/2 tblsp
Split chick peas (pottukadalai/dalia): 2 tblsps
Red chillies: 4-5 nos.
Grated coconut: 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds: 1tsp

METHOD:

Wash, deseed and chop the bitter gourds. In a kadai, heat a spoon of ghee or oil (bitter gourd when roasted with a little ghee reduces the bitterness) and add the mustard seeds. When they sputter, add the chopped gourds and saute till they are tender. This takes about 5-8 minutes. 
In the mean time, roast the ingredients mentioned above for grinding and grind them into a paste and keep aside. 
When the bitter gourds are tender, add water, salt and tamarind paste and allow to boil till the tamarind doesnt smell raw. Then add the ground paste and mix well. Heat for about 5 mins. 
Add the jaggery powder and mix well. 
Your gotsu is ready. 

Ciao till next time...Have fun! Vidya.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Super! Thanks for the recipe. I have not tried "gojju" using bittergourd. I am going to give this a try over the weekend.

Vidya said...

Thanks manni...do try, hope you will like it :)

Anonymous said...

This is one of the best gojju's I've ever made. Excellent recipe. Thank you. Sushma

Anonymous said...

Hi
I m from mangalore and this is one of my favourite dish. Its ulitmate commbination with coconut oil while preparing.

Regards
Prasanna.B.s

Vidya said...

@Sushma: Thank you, happy that you liked it...
@Prasanna: I wasnt aware of the coconut oil combination, will try the next time I make it...

jay said...

Hi,

I tried our your receipe,it came out very well.It was delicious and the whole family enjoyed the dish.Good on you for taking interest and publishing these authentic recipes on your web page.

Yes south kanara uses lot of cocnut oil for all their cooking as I too come from there,hey but I tried yours it was fanatastic,you know when you live outside of india,what flavour oil you use does not even matter as long you could source near ingredients and put together the dish.Place I live I cant even get bitturguard sometimes.