Lemon Gojju - Awaken your taste buds with a spoonful

I write a lot about gojjus in my posts since I think this dish really deserves all the attention. What can you expect from someone who cleans up bowls of gojju without bothering about the main dish served on her plate :-). For such a humble name, this genre has so many variations that you don't feel the repetition at all. The name 'Lemon Gojju' makes me drool and I consider this one of nammamma's 'always made to perfection' dishes. Given that she is from the generation that doesn't tolerate tasting while cooking, I just can't explain how she achieved that consistently perfect taste every time.

Nammamma made this usually with the avarekalu kadubu or pumpkin idli and as she calls it is a total tongue cleanser. If you have had string of parties and eaten too much greasy food or sweets and feeling lethargic, this is the gojju to go to as it hits your taste buds in the right spots, awakens your senses and brings you back to life. This is a very simple recipe by any standard, get a couple of juicy lemons and you are on your way to tasting something totally out of this world. There is however a surprise ingredient in this gojju that you don't normally see in any of the other Karnataka gojjus. Nammamma says adding milk in this recipe is to beat the raw tangyness of the lemon juice and mellow it down and I totally agree with it as I have experimented with & without milk, so take my word and go with the milk. I use milk straight from the gallons here, nammamma used the usual boiled, cooled milk in India.

BTW, if you haven't noticed, I added a Recipe Index page over the weekend. Well.. the page got published over the weekend but had it coming for a while as I started to organize and group my various posts sometime over the Holidays. I was pleasantly surprised to see it coming together nicely though I haven't planned my posts in any order. Give it a look and let me know if you have any comments.

What do you need to make Lemon Gojju?
Juice of 2 good sized lemons - about 4 Tblsp
1 Tblsp Urad dal/uddina bele
1/2 Tsp fenugreek seeds/menthya
1 Tsp white sesame seeds/ellu
4-5 green chilies (adjust to suit taste, see notes)
2-3 sprigs cilantro
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 Tsp oil
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp crushed/grated jaggery
2 Tblsp milk
Seasoning:
1 Tsp oil
1 Tsp mustard
1/2 Tsp white sesame seeds
2-3 curry leaves

How do you make Lemon Gojju? 

• Heat 1 Tsp oil in a thick bottom pan, add urad dal and fenugreek seeds and broken green chilies and fry them on medium heat.
• Add the sesame seeds to the pan as the urad dal begins to change color slightly and continue to roast until urad dal turns pink and blisters form on green chilies. 
• Switch off and let cool.
• Grind the roasted ingredients, coconut, cilantro, salt, jaggery with a couple of spoons of water to a very smooth paste. 
• Take out the ground mixture to a bowl, add lemon juice and milk and give it a good mix with a spoon. 
• Heat oil for seasoning, add mustard and sesame seeds, let them splutter, add curry leaves and pour the sizzling seasoning over the gojju. 
• Let the gojju sit for about 30 minutes for it to absorb all the flavors before serving this lip smacking accompaniment with akki rotti, kadubu, pumpkin idli or Ragi mudde or anything else that you like. 
• This gojju will have a slightly thick pouring consistency (in between a dosa and an idli batter). The proportions above yield 2 cups of gojju. 

Notes: 

• It is important to let the gojju sit for about 30 minutes, so prepare ahead if you need. The seasoning can be done later to keep the crunch. 
• The jaggery, salt, green chilies and lemon juice should balance each other and also outpower each other in this recipe, make adjustments to suit your taste buds.
• Always remember to break or cut green chilies before roasting them as they will pop otherwise. 

• Roast the urad, fenugreek and green chilies on low-medium heat and make sure urad is roasted nicely without changing color too quickly to avoid the raw smell of the dal in the gojju. 
• Use brown sugar in place of jaggery if needed.