Southekayi (Cucumber) Hasi-Gojju

Dear Readers, wish you all a very Happy and fulfilling New Year, albeit a little late! Gosh, it feels like I wrote ages ago, although I took just a fortnight’s break 🙂 Well, I did manage to do quite a lot during this little break. The Mister and me went gallivanting all over town between Christmas and New Year…we went to every nook and cranny that had an interesting event going on. We even went to the much talked about Nilgiris Cake show in town, although I must admit I was gravely disappointed with the Organizers and the kind of sleazy crowd I had to (literally) rub shoulders with. Ugggghhh…very sloppy show this time Nilgiris. Ever since I was little, going to the Cake show has been an annual ritual and I eagerly await the event every year. I dragged the mister too this time and when he saw such a poorly organized event, he pooh-poohed me big time, and wanted to kick me right there for persuading him to go 😦 Nonetheless, our spirit untainted, we continued gallivanting! We gorged and piggggggggged on a lot of yummy food at different dine-ins… starting from the road side dhaba, to some of the finer joints in town…aaaah, food coma I tell you! Boy, did we have fun or what?! Im sure you all had a wonderful holiday season too! And how can I forget the icing on the cake…the absolutely fun New Year party at a relative’s! I’m all charged up for this new year and hoping to see better days this year as compared to last year. Now I’m on this real biggie spring-cleaning spree at home, getting rid of all the unwanted junk, and getting ready for the Pongal festivities. Sure does feel sooooo good when you get rid of those useless things lying around the house for no reason, doesn’t it? 🙂 I’m almost done with the entire house…just a wee bit left, which I plan to wrap up by the weekend. Phew, I talked too much now din’t I? Alright, alright, let me get the food to do the talking here on.

Southekayi (Cucumber) hasi (raw) gojju is an accompaniment for rice/chappathis and is as easy to make as a walk in the park! Gojju is a South-Indian tangy-sweet gravy that goes best with piping hot rice. Gojju (any variety) is a must-serve in South-Indian Wedding fare. Some people like gojju with chappathis. I prefer it with rice though. This particular gojju has no cooking involved and I think thats what earns it the most brownie points, apart for its taste. I learnt this from my Mother-in-law and love it for its simplicity.

Ingredients:

• Cucumber – 2 nos (medium sized; cleaned and finely chopped to uniform sized pieces)
• Coriander/Cilantro – a sprig, finely chopped
• Salt – to taste

Grind together to a fine paste:

• Grated Coconut – 1/2 cup
• Fried gram (Pottu kadalai/hurigadale) – 3-4 tbsps
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Jeera/Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Asafoetida/Hing – a pinch
• Tamarind – a small lemon sized ball (you could also use tamarind puree of equal quantity)
• Jaggery – 1″ piece
• Red Chillies – 2 nos of the hot variety (Salem) + 2 nos of the colouring variety (Byadagi)
• Coriander/Cilantro – a sprig

Procedure:

• Put the finely chopped cucumber in a bowl and set aside.
• Prepare a fine paste with the ingredients mentioned for grinding.
• Add the paste to the cucumber. Stir well.
• Garnish with coriander. Add salt to taste just before serving, to prevent the dish from getting too watery from the salt.
• Serve with hot rice/chappathis.

Now that sounds like a breeze doesn’t it?!! Do try it out and let me know if you liked it.

Have a fantastic year ahead all you folks! Love and Hugs!

This one finds its way to Padmajha’s ‘No Cook’ Event.