Hagala kai ( Bitter gourd ) Gojju

Hagalakai Gojju

Gojju is a combination of 5 types of tastes salty, sour, bitter, Pungent and sweet. It can be used as side dish or it can be mixed with rice and eaten.

Ingredients

Hagala kai                 ½ Kg

Tamarind                  big lemon size

Jaggery                    Size of a big lemon- powdered

Salt                          to taste        

Coriander leaves     3 sprigs –washed and chopped

For grinding

Gram dhal                   one fist full

Chillies                       6

Sesame seeds             2 table spoons

Cumin seeds              ½ tea spoon

Fenugreek seeds        ¼ teaspoon

Coconut scraping    

 or                            

dry coconut gratings   4 table spoons

For seasoning

Mustard seeds            ½ teaspoon

Cumin seeds               ½ teaspoon

Chillies                       2 cut in to pieces

Curry leaves              2 sprigs

Method

Wash and slit Hagala kai length wise and remove the seeds with handle of a spoon.

Dice the vegetable in to small pieces. Transfer them into a dish. Add ½ tea spoon of salt Mix well and collect all the vegetable to one side and press it against the wall of the dish and keep it aside for ½ an hour. Juice of the vegetable comes out. Squeeze the juice out of the vegetable and discard. This process removes bitterness from the vegetable. At the same time we will be losing plenty of nutrients. So this step of removing the juice from the vegetable is optional.

In a flat frying pan heat 4 to 5 table spoon full of oil. Add Mustard seeds, Cumin seeds, chilli pieces and asafoetida. When the seeds splutter and chilli pieces become brown add curry leaves. Add Hagala kai pieces and fry till the vegetable becomes brown.

Soak Tamarind in ½ a cup of hot water for 15 minutes  and extract the juice.

Fry Gram dhal, Cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and sesame seeds one by one, separately till they become brown and give out aroma. Allow to cool. Grind them with dry coconut gratings to a smooth powder. If you use fresh coconut scrapings grind them in to a paste adding required amount of water.  

Add this masala powder or paste to the fried vegetable in the pan and add required amount of water and cook for 5 minutes.

Add tamarind juice and cook for 5 minutes.

Add powdered Jaggery and cook for a few minutes.

 Finally add required amount of salt keeping in mind that we had added salt to remove juice and boil. Add more water to get the necessary consistency.

Transfer it into a serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Hagala kai Gojju is ready to eat.