Bilimbi Coconut Based Side Dish (Bimbla Gojju/Bharth)

Bilimbi Coconut Based Side Dish (Bimbla Gojju/Bharth)

When we were kids, me & my cousins would sneak out in the afternoon while our mums were having their siesta, to secretly enjoy bilimbis with salt. I’m sure you’ve done this too. Childhood is the best time of our life isn’t it? :)

And if you have a bilimbi tree in your backyard which bears fruits throughout the year, summer is when it’s in full bloom. The tree gets loaded with these beauties. They mature quick, start to ripen and fall off the tree. And I’m sure you would have made different kinds of bilimbi pickles. And are looking for ways to use them up. Well, you can make this delicious bilimbi gojju and enjoy it as a side dish for lunch, dinner. Gojju in Kannada, Konkani refer to side dishes.

This spicy, super tangy gojju goes great with rice, curd rice, steaming hot congee and even with dosas and idlis. It’s easy and quick to make. If you like raw mango chutney, you’ll like this gojju too. It tastes almost like raw mango chutney. Make it for lunch one afternoon & let me know how you liked it. Would love to hear from you. :)

This bilimbi side dish is called bimbla gojju/bimbla bharth in Konkani. Bimbal refers bilimbi in Konkani & gojju, bharth mean side dishes in Konkani.


Ingredients:

  • 4-6 bilimbis depending on their size
  • 3-4 green chillies
  • 3/4 cup grated coconut
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 garlic cloves/a pinch of crystal asafoetida
  • 1/2 teaspoon of oil

Seasoning (optional):

  • 1 tablespoon of oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
  • 1 leaflet of curry leaves
  • 1 dried red chilli (optional)

Method of Preparation:

  1. Heat up a tempering pan, add in peeled garlics, washed green chillies broken into pieces.
  2. Add few drops of oil and fry them for a minute. We want the green chillies to change in colour slightly, garlic to start to brown, so their raw flavour goes off.
  3. You can skip frying green chillies and add them directly to make this gojju but make sure you fry garlic to get the right taste. If you’re using crystal asafoetida in place of garlic then fry them along with green chillies. We want a little fried crystal asafoetida for a nice taste. Raw asafoetida/asafoetida powder gives a different taste. 
  4. Then grind together grated coconut, roughly chopped bilimbi, salt, green chillies, garlic/crystal asafoetida into a smooth paste using only as much water as required. We need a thick gojju in the end.
  5. Transfer them into a bowl. Check and adjust salt.
  6. Add about 1/4 cup of water if required, if you like a semi thick consistency gojju to mix with your rice. Or keep it dry and thick without adding any more water.
  7. Season the gojju if required. Gojju tastes great even without seasoning. 
  8. For seasoning: Heat up a tempering pan, add in oil, mustard seeds. When they start popping, add in curry leaves, dried red chilli pieces and let them sizzle for few seconds. Add this seasoning to the gojju and mix well. 
  9. Serve this gojju with rice, with curd rice, steaming hot congee, dosas or idlis. 

P.S: Traditionally this gojju is made by cooking bilimbi before adding them to the chutney. But even without cooking them, gojju tastes great. 


Tags: Bilimbi, bimbal, gojju, bharth, bimbla gojju, bimbla bharth, side dish, Konkani cuisine, Konkani recipe, Konkani food, GSB Konkani recipe, vegan, vegetarian recipe, South Canara Konkani recipe, Konkani cooking, GSB Konkani cuisine.