Orange peel gojju/kamalam pottu gojju

Oranges are an all time favorite, how about cooking the peels? Orange peels are known to be rich in Vitamin C and calcium and orange gojju is in fact an age-old recipe from Karnataka, one that Rathna mummy (our maternal grand mom) made for us on our Bengaluru visits.

Preparation time: 20-25 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Peels of 4 oranges (kalam pandu pottu)
Sesame seeds (til/yellu/nuvvulu) 2 tsp
Coriander seeds (dhania seeds/dhaniya beeja/dhaniyalu) 2 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera/jeerige/jeelakarra) 2 tsp
Dry coconut (vonkobbri/endukobbari) 2-3 pieces/small cubes
Red chillies 4
Mustard seeds (rai/sasve/aavalu) 2 tsp
Black gram (Uraddal/uddinbele/uddipappu) 1 tsp
Groundnuts 1 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Tamarind (imli/chintapandu) 1 blob
Jaggery (gud/bella/bellam) equal to the tamarind
Refined cooking oil 2 tsp
Pinch of turmeric (haldi/pasupu)
Pinch of asafoetida (hing/ingu/inguva)
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak tamarind in a quarter cup of water for around 10-15 mins .

Wash the orange peels. Scrape out the white fibers that stick to the inner white peel. The white portion of the inner peel can be left, as it is rich in fiber content. Finely chop the orange peels.

Apply a drop or two of oil onto a pan. Dry roast the sesame seeds, coriander seeds, a tsp each of mustard seeds and cumin seeds, 2 red chilies and dry coconut pieces. Set aside to cool.

Add the above roasted spices, pinch of salt, soaked tamarind (or tamarind paste as available), and jaggery in proportion to the tamarind used and grind to a fine paste. Add a little water if required.

Heat oil in a pan/kadai (bandli/mookudu) and add a tsp of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram, peanuts, 2 red chillies, curry leaves and a pinch each of asafoetida and turmeric.

Add the chopped orange peels, salt to taste and sauté until cooked. This takes around 2 mins. (Remember that the paste already has a pinch of salt and add salt accordingly).

Add the spice-tamarind-jaggery paste and cook for around 2-5 mins until the gojju thickens and the orange peels are evenly spiced and cooked.

Sour, tangy, spicy and sweet, Orange peel gojju is a great rice supplement and an Indian bread supplement too. Surprise your guests at this New Year’s bash with this innovative sweet chutney/curry.