Pineapple Gojju - A tangy refreshing curry for the beginning of Summer

Yesterday marked the official beginning of Summer here in the US. We are yet to see the Summer where we live, for now we are still enjoying the rains and the gray skies. School year ended and ended well too, DD is home, happy with her performance at school and extremely happy thinking about the long, lazy days that lie in front of her for the next two months :-). She has admonished both of us from reminding her about her Summer activities, cleaning up and the umpteen other things that parents usually do as soon as the kid gets a break from school. While trying to be 'parenty', we know too well she deserves the break, year had been hectic for her and us with the relocation, new surroundings, new school etc but she came out smiling as always. For that I am grateful!

Pineapple gojju is a popular curry in Karnataka. At one point, it had become a must have menu item on all wedding lunches. I don't know if it still enjoys that status as I haven't been to a wedding back home in a while. We love it for the exploding flavor of this gojju. Though it can be prepared with canned pineapples, I prefer the fruit when it is in season. Last weekend our supermarket was literally filled with pineapples on sale. I am not sure if it was a bumper crop some where or messed up transportation but I was happy to find these yellow beauties for a bargain. They were smaller than the usual ones I buy at Costco (everything is giant sized at the wholesaler anyway) but were just ripe and juicy. We sliced and ate one of the fruits while the other one got transformed into a yummy gojju.

Minimalistic in its demand for ingredients, this gojju stays well and accompanies almost anything from rice to rotis.

What do you need to make Pineapple gojju? 
1 medium sized ripe pineapple - cored, cleaned and chopped into 2 cups of bite sized pieces
1 Tblsp grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup water
1 Tsp crushed jaggery/brown sugar
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 Tsp cooking oil

To roast in oil: 
1 Tblsp urad dal
1 Tblsp white sesame seeds
1/8 Tsp fenugreek seeds (about 6-8 seeds)
6-8 curry leaves (reserve about 2 for later)
1 inch piece of tamarind or 1/2 Tsp of tamarind concentrate
4-6 dry red chilies (I use a combination of guntur and Byadagi for the heat and color respectively)

How do you make Pineapple gojju? 

• Heat 1 Tsp of oil in a pan on medium heat and roast all the ingredients listed under 'To roast' until urad dal turns pink and you get a nice roasted aroma. Keep aside to cool. 

• Grind the roasted mixture with coconut adding 1/4 cup of water into a very smooth paste. 

• Heat 1 Tsp oil in a cooking pan, add the curry leaves and the ground masala, adjust the consistency by using the remaining 1/4 cup of water. 
• Add jaggery/brown sugar, salt and bring it to a gentle boil. 

• Add the chopped pineapple pieces and let it boil once before switching off. 
• Let the curry stand for an hour before serving it warm or cold. 

Notes: 

• Choose a pineapple that is ripe (but not over ripe or mushy).
• If you are using canned pineapple, drain the juice, wash the pieces in running water before adding them to the curry. 
• Adjust jaggery and tamarind based on the sweetness and tartness of the fruit. 
• You can use dry coconut to increase the shelf life of the gojju but I usually make it with fresh coconut as we consume it quickly. Fry the dry coconut well in oil before grinding it.