Hog plum, popularly known as ‘Ambate’ along Coastal Karnataka, is a distant cousin of Mango. Though related, it has its own characteristic unique taste which is much different from that of Mango. Today’s dish, Ambate Gojju / Hog Plum Sauce is one of the unique and tastiest dish with hog plum.
Among the several culinaries possible using ‘Ambate’, the one which is easiest and that I love the most is ‘Ambate Gojju’ or ‘Hog Plum Sauce’.
It is easy to prepare and goes really well with piping hot rice.
Click here for few other hog plum based recipes that might interest you.
Here we go with the recipe:
Total Time: 15 minutes
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2 to 3
Ingredients:
Hog Plum / Ambate: 5 to 6
Salt: as per taste
Jaggery: 2 small lemon size
Asafoetida: litte
Green Chilly: 1
For tempering / Tadka:
Ghee: 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.
Curry leaves: few
Quick Video :
Method:
- Wash and clean the hog plums
- Gently smash them and in a pot, cook the hog plums for about 10 minutes under medium heat along with green chilli and jaggery. Use water just enough for the hog plums to dip.
- Remove from heat and let it cool. Once cool, separate the outer layer from the seed and keep aside. Discard the seeds
- Add a little asafoetida and salt
- Grind the above to a smooth paste along with a little water. Use the water used for boiling the hogplum
- Add the tempering / tadka to the above and serve it with piping hot rice or fresh crispy dose / dosa or hot spongy idli or freshly baked rotis / chapathis / bread!!! The choice is yours!!!
Ambate Gojju stories:
Amabte Gojju is one of the common and most liked side dishes in Coastal Karnataka households. Just like how it is a tradition there to have a Brahmi plant in every house, one of the other commonly found plant / tree in this region in almost all households is the hog plum tree / plant. Of course, back in Bangalore, these were still available in ‘Mangalore Stores’, what surprised me was its sight in ‘Indian Stores’ in Europe as well!!!
When I think of hog plum or Ambate, the picture of the beautiful hog plum tree in front of my maternal grandmother’s house comes in front of my eyes. Its fruit was always special in the sense that it was fleshy and juicy unlike the ones from other places.
Well, recently my dad found a sapling of a seedless variety of hog plum at a nursery and he has planted the same in his backyard. Now I am waiting to taste some seedless hog plums!!!
Coming back to gojju, it is a simple dish which gets its taste largely from the fruit itself, enhanced further by green chilli, asafoetida, salt and tempering. As much as it sounds and is indeed simple, to prepare, it is not just healthy but it tastes heavenly too.
Nice tangy one…
thank you