Chidambaram Gotsu
Recipe: Chidambaram Gotsu
Chidambaram Gotsu is a delicious side dish prepared with brinjal and roasted ground spices. It is traditionally served with jeeraga samba rice. However, nowadays it is served with idli, dosa, ven pongal. In fact, the recipes calls for smaller young eggplants or brinjals. I guess because it would cook faster and be more flavourful. Instead, I had to be content with the large eggplants or brinjals I get here.
What Is Gotsu?
Also known as gothsu, ghostu, kothsu and even gojji, it generally is a jammy kind chutney prepared with fruits or vegetables and tamarind and some spices. Usually it is a combination of all six tastes – salty, sweet, bitter, astringent, sour and spice. Certainly, Gotsu can be enjoyed as a condiment or as a base for a rice dish.
Memories
Notably, I remember coming across the recipe of Chidabaram Gotsu sometime around 2013. In reality, it was my search on Google for different ways to prepare brinjal or eggplant that took me to a site whereby tender brinjals were used to prepare a simple but flavourful offering to God. Back then, I was in the habit of writing down recipes in my recipe book and forgot to add the site where I had got it from.
Specifically, I was searching for a different way to prepare eggplants, was because I was quite tired of having the usual baingan bharta or with aloo. Hubby simply loves brinjals and it must as a part of the menu at least twice a week. While he can enjoy the same food, every single day, I love variety.
Present Day
I recently got those huge eggplants… well hubby came with 2 of them grinning from ear to ear. And I go “oh no!” The thing is here in Magog I get only those fat huge American Eggplants also known as Globe Eggplants. Though soft and spongy, they tend to have a lot of seeds. Fortunately, they are not hard so I don’t bother removing them. I so miss the baby, Indian and Japanese brinjals. With one I prepared baingan bharta. What do I do with the other one? Eventually, the idea was to make aloo baingan to go with khichdi. But didn’t have any potatoes. Who runs out of potatoes? Guess I do!
What To Make With So Many Brinjals?
Next plan was to look for a really old recipe to redo. Digging through piles and piles of paper, well not literally, it was more like click and click through numerous pages, I came across the old recipe of Chidabaram Gotsu. Before I went into making it, I just wanted to check that I am on the right path with the recipe as it is a traditional one. As opposed to modern recipes where one can play around with the ingredients, it is not so with traditional ones especially if they are prepared as an offering to God.
Check Out Some More Brinjal |Eggplant Recipes
Gujarati Style Stuffed Brinjals
My Research
Just as well I did that. By the way, in all the research and reading, I didn’t realize that it was 11.30 a.m. Rushed to the kitchen, and quickly began preparing the gotsu. You see when hubby is hungry, he will start pacing up and down in the kitchen area, till I say “food is ready!” When he was working, I had to often wait for him for lunch, sometimes up till 2p.m. Luckily, it doesn’t take that long to prepare this kathirikai gothsu. Yup, I now know what brinjal is called in Tamil.
As I didn’t have the original recipe to follow, I decided to browse through several. What I learned is that traditionally no onion, garlic or tomatoes are used for this recipe. Unlike most South Indian dishes, this one has no tempering added on top.
Why Is This Dish Called Chidambaram Gotsu?
In short, Chidambaram is a town in Tamil Nadu famous for the Thillai Nataraja Temple. To read about the history of this famous temple click here. It is believed that kathirikai or eggplant gotsu was prepared for Siva way back in the 13th Century. Usually prepared for the evening naivedyam or offering, during festivals, weddings and is usually served with jeeraga samba rice. This rice is simply flavoured with cumin seeds and black pepper powder. Thus the name Chidambaram Gotsu.
Over time, this famous gotsu has been prepared in nearby restaurants, homes, etc. Furthermore, with any recipe, there are bound to be some variations in the spices or lentils used. Some add tomatoes. But, I would like to go with the one without tomatoes. As a matter of fact, tomatoes were never a part of the Indian Cuisine till it was introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th Century. That being said, the same goes with chillis which were introduced to India by the Portuguese. Back then the only hot spice used was black pepper.
Sharing This Recipe With Foodies_Redoing Old Posts
The first time I had prepared this Gotsu following the jotted down recipe, it had onion. When I thought of redoing this old post, it got me thinking that if it is offered to God in the temples, how come it has onion? So I spent a lot of time researching on the only source available to me, Google. If made for offering, no onion or garlic is used. Also the main flavours are from the sesame oil and the ground spices. That is all.
First posted this recipe on 04/07/2014, redoing it with better photos and changes in the recipe.
Ingredients Required For Chidambaram Gotsu
Eggplant
Also known as baingan, ringad, aubergine or brinjal. Use small tender brinjals if you get them. But, can use any that is available. Remove the stem and surrounding leaves. Cut the eggplant into strips or cubes. Keep it in water till you are ready to cook.
Oil
Sesame oil, coconut oil or any oil of our choice. I highly recommend that you use sesame oil. Adds a wonderful earthy warm taste.
Urad Dal
Black gram split. The white one.
Curry Leaves
Preferably fresh but if not available can use frozen or dried curry leaves.
Mustard Seeds
rai, rai dana.
Salt
Add according to your taste.
Turmeric Powder
Haldi, hardar.
Tamarind
Tamarind. Need about the size of a lemon. Soak it in hot water. Allow the tamarind to soak for 10-15 minutes. The rub of the pulp, remove the seeds and fibre. Tamarind water is ready. I usually have tamarind paste ready in the freezer. I mix about 1-2 tbsp in some water.
Hot Water
To soak the tamarind.
Jaggery
Add a little to balance the flavours. I have used jaggery powder.
Fresh Coriander
I couldn’t resist adding it to the gotsu.
For The Spice Mixture
You need some coriander seeds, gram dal (split chickpea lentil), black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds, dry red chillis, sesame oil, asafoetida.
Serve It With
- Traditionally served with jeeraga samba rice. This rice is a short grain and more starchy. Cook it with cumin seeds and black pepper powder to serve it with Chidambaram Gotsu.
- As suggested by many South Indian Food Bloggers, serve it with idli or dosa.
- Although I didn’t have jeeraga or seeraga rice, I prepared jeera rice using basmati. Understandably, I know its not the same, but hey.
Watch How To Make Chidambaram Gotsu
CHIDAMBARAM GOTSU | KATHIRIKAI GOTHSU
Ingredients
FOR THE SPICE MIXTURE
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp chana dal
- 10-12 black peppercorns
- ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
- 3-4 dry red chillis
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp asafoetida
FOR THE GOTSU
- 500 g brinjal,eggplant
- 4 tbsp sesame oil
- tamarind Indian lemon size
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1¼ tsp salt
- 1-2 tbsp jaggery
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
Instructions
MAKE TAMARIND WATER
- Add lemon size tamarind to the hot water.
- Allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes.
- Using your fingers rub off the tamarind pulp into the water it is soaked in.
- Remove the fibres and seeds if any.
- Strain the liquid. Press the pulp through the sieve till only the fibre bits are left.
- Tamarind water is ready.
PREPARATION OF THE SPICE MIXTURE
- Heat ¼ tsp sesame oil in a small pan over low heat.
- Add coriander seeds, chana dal, peppercorns, fenugreek seeds and dry chillis.
- Stir fry for 2-3 minutes or till you get the aroma of the spices and the chana dal turns light brown.
- Remove the roasted spices from the pan. Put it on a small plate to cool down.
- Add the spices to a food processor. Process the spices till you get a coarse powder.
- Add asafoetida and mix well. Keep it on the side till required.
PREPARATION OF CHIDAMBARAM GOTSU
- Wash and cut the brinjals into strips.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. I prefer to use a wide pan.
- When the oil becomes hot, add mustard seeds and allow them to pop.
- Add the urad dal. Stir fry till the dal begins to turn light brown.
- Add the curry leaves. Stir fry for a few seconds.
- Add turmeric powder and the brinjal strips.
- Add salt. Mix well.
- Cover the pan and allow the brinjal to cook over low heat. It will release water.
- Stir occasionally to make sure that the brinjals are not sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- After 10 minutes, the brinjals will have become a bit soft. Mash the brinjals as much as you can using a spatula.
- Add the tamarind water. Mix well. Cover and cook.
- Occasionally open the lid, mash and stir the brinjal mixture.
- All of the brinjal added should be mashed.
- When all the water is almost evaporated, add the spice mixture. Also add jaggery if using any.
- Mix well. Cover the pan and allow the gotsu to cook for about 5 - 7 minutes.
- Add chopped fresh coriander and mix well. Chidambaram Gotsu is ready.
- Serve it with jeeraga rice which is cooked with cumin seeds and black peppercorn powder. Alternately can serve it with idli or dosa.
Notes
- Use small brinjal if possible.
- Traditional method calls for a lot of oil. The gotsu is mashed and cooked till it releases the oil. I have used a small quantity of oil.
- Traditionally a substantial amount of jaggery is added. I have added very little as we didn't want it to be extra sweet.
- I always keep tamarind pulp ready. When required mix 1-2 tbsp of the thick pulp with the required amount of water.
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9 Comments
Beena.stephy
July 5, 2014 at 10:43 am
Tempting yummy curry
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Priya Srinivasan
January 15, 2024 at 1:32 pm
Brinjal gotsu looks delish mayuri ji! Oh we love to enjoy it with rice and of course venpongal. Amma too makes it exactly the same method, sometimes she pressure cooks the brinjal, to ease up the mashing. A perfect curry to pair with rice and even rotis too.
mayurisjikoni
January 15, 2024 at 5:29 pm
Thank you so much Priya, coming from a South Indian it means I got this recipe right. I like the idea of pressure cooking the brinjals. It took a bit of time as unlike the northern style baingan bharta where the peel is removed, here we leave it.
Archana
January 18, 2024 at 5:32 am
I like this idea of Chidambaram gostu! It is totally new to me, and even I have brinjal, both big and small, in my place every week. Thanks to you, I have one flavourful vegetable that I am going to cook in the pressure cooker. (I read Priya’s comment.). Perfect weekend vegetable!
mayurisjikoni
January 18, 2024 at 5:34 pm
Thanks Archana, am sure you will enjoy Chidambaram gostu.Amazingly tasty with few spices.
Renu
January 27, 2024 at 5:34 pm
Gotsu looks tempting. I like making of the fresh masala in this dish, It came out too nice and we enjoyed this with some dal and rice.
mayurisjikoni
January 27, 2024 at 6:25 pm
Thanks Renu, the simple spices add so much flavour. Am glad you and your family enjoyed gotsu.
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