Recipe for Pineapple Gojju - A sweet sour spicy pineapple curry from Karnataka
Pineapple Gojju is a delicious sweet, sour, spicy curry from Karnataka, made using pineapples, best had with steamed rice. Get the authentic recipe from Karnataka here!
Ingredients
- 1 pineapple medium sized
- 2 tsps coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 - 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 2 chillies dried red
- pinch asafoetida
- 1 tsp tamarind paste* (I use Dabur Homemade)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 inch jaggery piece of (optional)
For Masala
- 2 tsps coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tbsp chana dal
- 1 tbsp dal udad
- 4 chillies dried red
- 1/2 cup coconut fresh or frozen grated (unsweetened).
For Tempering
- 1 - 2 tsps coconut oil
- 1 - 2 chillies dried red
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
Instructions
- Peel and prepare the pineapple into bite sized cubes, or buy the ready prepared pineapple. If using canned, then choose one that is NOT canned in sugar syrup.
- In a heavy bottomed wok or a pan, heat 2 tsp coconut oil. Add the 2 red chillies, mustard seeds, curry leaves and pinch of asafoetida. Add the pineapple cubes and toss for a few seconds. Add the water, tamarind paste / pulp, bring to a simmer.
- Cover and cook till somewhat soft - this should take 8-10 minutes, but do check that it doesn't turn mushy.
- While the pineapple is simmering, in a smaller pan, toast the ingredients for the masala (except the coconut) until the chana dal is golden brown. You can toast each of them individually if you have more time on hand, such that the cumin, coriander and fenugreek seeds are lightly aromatic, the dals are golden brown and the red chillies crisp up.
- Grind this along with the coconut to a fine paste, using up to 1/2 cup water.
- Add this paste to the nearly cooked pineapple pieces and bring to a simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove into a serving bowl.
- Heat the oil for tempering in a small ladle / pan. In hot oil, splutter mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves and transfer on the top of the curry.
- Serve with steamed rice.
Notes
- The same curry can also be made with a semi-ripe mango.
- If you dont have tamarind paste, then soak a lemon sized ball of tamarind in 1/2 cup hot water for 15 minutes and squeeze out the pulp and use that in the curry.
- Coconut oil imparts a lovely depth of flavour to the dish. If you don't have it on hand, or if you don't like the taste of it, by all means use any other neutral flavoured cooking oil.
- The colour of the curry in the photo is somewhat darker due to the tamarind paste I've used, if you use the pulp, you'll get a more golden yellow hue and the consistency turned out thicker in my case as I had approximated from Ratna's recipe. I have adjusted the ingredients in the recipe here to get the correct consistency, which should be somewhat thinner than a thick dal.