Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Idlis with Onion Ghotsu - Time for Comfort..


What is your comfort food? Mine is a long list, but the most favorite is Curd rice with spicy potatoes! :) Doesn't it taste divine and soothing, especially with that slurp? :) I'm salivating at the thought of it. I've been having hankering for comfort foods lately. For the past few days I have almost been cooking only my comfort foods and haven't attempted anything new. Sure, trying different cuisines and making variations in everyday food is ofcourse stimulating. However, after a series of new dishes, most of us long for our favorite & familiar taste to comfort ourselves. To me, comfort food is a home-cooked informal meal, that I can sit & eat on the couch, with my feet tucked in under me. These foods are far from gourmet and usually reminds me of home cooking. Something that I am familiar with, and something I know for sure I'll enjoy. Especially after a long stressful day, or after continuous travel, its so comforting.

I've been slammed at work last week, and absolutely no time for elaborate cooking in the kitchen. Not that I ran out of cooking imagination, there is always the interest and inspiration to make good food, but simply because my schedule has been recently busy with my office projects. In times like these, I'm in need of serious comfort. Last week, as I said, we've been living on comfort foods. Idlis/Dosas for 3 days in a row. One day take-out and another couple of days with Lemon rasam and Potatoes, and there goes the week!

During the middle of the week, I made this Onion Ghotsu for Idlis - my hubby's favorite. I learnt that most men really enjoy sitting down to a nice home-cooked meal, especially when it contains some of their all-time favorite food, perhaps it sends the message that they are special! Mine is no exception :) He loves comfort food and is more fond of simple and tasty home-made dishes than spending those big bucks for those few spoons of gourmet food under a dim light. Since last month, he's been asking me to cook a few of his favorites and he thought I had almost forgotten to make them! Ofcourse I did not, and to prove him, I cooked one of his favorites, Onion Ghotsu! I remember enjoying this yummy and simple recipe during my newly-wedded days. Onion Ghotsu is one of the dishes that my hubby's family practically lived on. My mother-in-law used to make varieties of accompaniments for Idlis/Dosas every morning. This was one of those lovely accompaniments for Idlis. Very flavorful and very easy.


Ingredients:
  • Red Onion - 2 medium (chopped extra fine)
  • Tomatoes - 2 medium
  • G.Chillies - 3 small
  • Turmeric - a few pinches
  • Chilli powder - 1 tsp (or as required)
  • Cinnamon - 1 inch
  • Cloves - 2
  • Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
  • Curry Leaves & Corriander Leaves - a few
For the paste:
  • Shredded coconut (fresh) - 4 tbsps
  • Pottu Kadalai/Roasted Chana Dal/Chana Dalia - 2 tbsp
  • Ginger - 1/2 inch
  • Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
  • Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
  • KasaKasa - 1 tsp
Procedure:
  • Make a smooth paste from the ingredients mentioned above for the paste.
  • Heat oil, season with cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds. When they pop, add the onions, g.chillies & curry leaves. Fry for a few mins until the onions are fried well.
  • Add tomatoes, turmeric and chilli powder and fry them until the tomatoes lose shape completely. Mash the mixture with the spatula, add 1 cup water and salt & cover and let it cook for around 10 mins in medium heat.
  • Now add the ground paste, mix well and cover for another 5 mins. Boil the mixture until it becomes a nice thick gravy.
  • Garnish with corriander leaves.

30 comments:

Suparna said...

Hi,
Very very true... it's a full circle after all, after having all the gourmet dishes....the simple home-cooked comfort food has the magic which most of the heavy duty dishes doesn't! Wow! the onion ghostu looks really comforting and I'd love to make any day!this is the tamilian style I guess :) I'll try it sometime...have BM'd it.
TC

Indhu said...

yummy gotsu.. comfort foods are the best and yeah... curd rice tops my list :)

Sanghi said...

Mmm my favourite sujatha, perfect!

gtyuk said...

onion ghosthu sounds well spiced ( kassa kassa, garam masala, coconut, roasted gram dhal), yummm with idlis.

my comfort food is Rassam / Rice and pickle (mango or prawns please) :)

Unknown said...

OMG look at that combo. now iam salivatin here oohh yummy,yes even curd rice and potato fry is also my fav. food yum

lubnakarim06 said...

A remedy to bored off people with chutney and sambar. Onion Ghostu looks yum.

Deepthi Shankar said...

I have a long list of comfort foods too, curd rice with spicy pottaoes !! Iam salivating too .. this onion ghotsu is somethng I haven't tried

FH said...

Gourmet is only good when you are not hungry! :D

I would sit down to eat these any day, masala sounds excellent! :)

Gita Jaishankar said...

Lovely dish! Nothing can beat these simple dishes for satisfaction, nice picture Sujatha :)

A_and_N said...

Nice one Sujatha! I actually prefer this over sambaar with my idlis :)

Cham said...

Nice one, I like ur gostu which is little different!

Unknown said...

wow looks yummy..i also nowadays in search for differnt sidedishes for idlies and dosa..will try this soon and let know sujatha...

Unknown said...

Onion gotsu sounds new to me...Am sure its perfect with soft idlis!

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

To be honest sometimes very simple dishes gives us more comfort than anything... Idlis are my fav and I did love to have anything with that... Onion Ghotsu looks great and tempting... Perfect pair for Idlis...

Lavanya said...

nice one..very simple to make..i have many dishes to come under my comfort food..yeah curd with potato fry is one!!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

fluffy idlis and gothsu... what a combi. good one suja.

Laavanya said...

Oh that gotsu looks awesome - no wonder it's such a favorite... and your idlis look so fluffy and soft - perfect combination.

Recipeswap said...

Sometimes homemade simple food brings most comfort to one....new to me but look delicious nevertheless.

Uma said...

What a lovely combo! Idlis and onion ghotsu look so mouth-watering :)

Dori said...

I guess that special feeling is no different than how we felt when mom would make something we loved for dinner :) Food is a great way to show someone how much you love them! Food looks very good!

Unknown said...

wow.. great combo... mouthwatering...delicious..

Manju said...

what a perfect comfort food!!

Purva Desai said...

Onion Ghotsu is a new dish for me...sounds yummy

AnuSriram said...

Thats delicious! Lovely combo! You make me hungry now!

Raks said...

My gosthu is very different from this! this grinding pard with fennel sounds so flavorful! Thanx for the lovely recipe! I have bookmarked!

Unknown said...

Perfect with idlies indeed. Curd rice n potatoes are my comfort food too!

Unknown said...

hey sujatha,as said earlier,I tried ur gosthu for todays breakfast...it was sooooooooooooo delicious...even my son enjoyed it with idlies ;)and my DH asked to post a comment saying delicious ;)in your blogThank u so much

Sujatha said...

Thanks so much Ramya! I'm very glad you all liked it.. and its so nice of you to let me know!

chef and her kitchen said...

first time here...u hv a nice collection of recipes....n loved ur onion ghotsu as well

Sia said...

comfort food for me is something that reminds me of home and happy days :) so i have many comfort foods in my list.
lovely onion ghotsu recipe Sujatha. bookmarked :)