I guess Brinjal Gothsu was some thing I have neverhad much in my own home. There  was this one hotel in Madurai, that used to serve steaming hot blobs  of ghee laden Venn Pongal with spicy Brinjal Gothsu. TIt`s a very versatile preparation and so homes in Tamil Nadu, all have their own way of preparing the same. My mother in law also makes awesome tasty Gothsu, and she once used the base of the morning rasam for Gothsu for the night. Rehashing ingredients sometimes is more tastier than the original preparations. This combination always works as the sweet spicy tanginess in the Gothsu compensates for the peppery niceness of the Pongal. Iguess this is what my telugu friends refer to as “Gojju”. When you have guests for breakfast, Gothsu is an easy tasty side for Pongal/Dosa and Idli.

INGREDIENTS:

1 long Japanese Eggplant diced in to 1 inch cubes.

1 1/2 cups of tamarind water.

1 Onion diced in to small cubes or 15 shallots sliced in to halves.

1 Tomato chopped in to fine pieces.

1 Spoon Sambar Powder.

1 spoon of Rice Flour diluted in 4 spoons of water.

Hing

Turmeric.

Salt

Cilantro to Garnish.

Curry Leaves, Mustard & Urad Dhal for seasoning.

PREPARATION:

• Take a kadai and place on the stove. Pour 2 spoons of oil and add urad dhal, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Keep the diced vegetbles ready to be used.
• When the mustard splutters, add onions and allow to saute till soft. Now add the tomatoes and mix well.
• Tap in a pinch of hing and  turmeric and cook till the tomato-onion mixture is mushy.
• Now add the diced eggplants, sambar powder, salt and mix well.
• Add the tamarind water and  allow around ten minutes for the brinjals also to cook in to the mixture and get soft.
• When its a little thick, add the rice-flour water to the kadai.
• Add some more water depending on what you want the final consistency to be.
• Normally it would be a little thicker than “Sambar” but thinner than a chutney or dip.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot with Venn Pongal.