Gongura Thokku & Rice

    
     Was aiming to replicate the Gongura Thokku of "Grand Sweets & Snacks" which I used to buy when I was at Chennai. The attempt turned out a success, tasting close to it. When I was staying alone in Chennai, I would come back from work and mostly tend to have these ready to eat rice mixes from Grand Sweets. I love them a lottttt......... I miss the taste of those thokku varieties here in USA as they are not available. I couldn't order these through some providers & wait for even 3 -4 days for this to be shipped from Chennai as my craving for this increased multifold on a day. So, researched and made one variety to start with. Have to keep it going with other varieties too.. Pulikachal, tomato thokku etc !! coming up sooooooooooooon.....

Prep Time: 20 mins || Cook Time: 15 mins || Yields: 150 gms || Category: Thokku / Rice Mix

Ingredients:
1. Gongura leaves - a bunch
2. Tamarind - lemon sized ball
3. Gingelly oil - 4 tbsp
4. Urad Dal - 2 tbsp
5. Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
6. Dry red chilies - 2 (long)
7. Salt - as required
8. Hing - as required
9. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
10. Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method:
1. Sort the gongura leaves; Wash them and drain the water. Chop the leaves roughly. Soak tamarind in hot water and set aside. In a pan, add little oil & saute the gongura leaves until it turns slightly pale brown and reduces in volume. 

 2. Transfer the sauted gongura leaves to a container and let it cool. In the same pan, add gingelly oil and fry urad dal, fenugreek seeds, red chillies until golden brown.

 3. Allow the roasted ingredients to cool & then add them to a mixie jar along with sauted gongura leaves, salt, hing. Grind it to a smooth paste without adding water. 

 4. Extract juice from the tamarind soaked in hot water. In the same pan, add some gingelly oil and add mustard seeds (I didn't use mustard seeds). After they splutter, add urad dal & curry leaves and fry for a min.

5. One the urad dal has turned brown, add the tamarind juice and cook for about 2-3 mins. Then add the gongura paste and salt and mix well. Cook for another 2 mins, adding some gingelly oil, if desired & switch off the flame.

Suggestions:

• As gongura by itself has a slight sour/tangy taste, be cautious in the amount of tamarind paste added, otherwise it will turn out to be too tangy for a side-dish.
• Any oil can be used in the place of gingelly oil.
• Mustard seeds can be added while tempering (I skipped it as I didn't want the mustard flavour).
• Stays good for 4-5 days when refrigerated (Not sure after that, becoz the thokku got over around 4 days :P )

Enjoy the gongura thokku as a side-dish for idly/dosa/chappathi etc. or mix it with hot rice & gingelly oil and enjoy it as gongura rice !!!