Pavakai/Bitter gourd curry(repost)

Pavakai is rarely cooked in our houses.Children never like to have this.Even elders take it for medicial purpose.It gives an unique smell and taste in recipe like PITLAI.So it is chosen for that reason and used for the special dish.This vegetable is avoided on auspicious days,may be for the reason it has bitterness.Though bitterness is good for health this vegetable requires some precooking steps to be followed even before it is cut.Normally the pointed portion is scraped off.Then it is cut and mixed with salt and left for sometime to remove the bitter juice out of it.Also the vegetable is par boiled before making it as a curry or in gravy form. Even while par boiling tamarind is used along with salt and turmeric powder.The bitterness is not fully lost even after following the steps.But when fried and made as curry with other ingredients it tastes good.One such recipe with the special ingredient is given below. It is done in Andhra Pradesh in Andhra region.I made this as one of the side dishes for roti.I am reposting the blogpost of mine here with picture taken now.

INGREDIENTS

Bitter gourd/Pavakai	500 Gm
Gram flour/Besan	2 tblsp
cumin/Jeera	2 tsp
Red chilli powder	2 tsp
Oil	2 Tblsp
Turmeric powder	1/2 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing powder	1/4 tsp
Salt	To taste

METHOD

Cut pavakai to ring like shape or into thin long pieces.Add 2 tsp salt, mix well and keep aside for minimum 1/2 hour.Squeeze and rinse it well under runing water and discard the seeds if any, drain and keep aside.
Heat oil in a kadai/pan (preferably heavy bottom one) and add pavakai/bittergourd.Saute on medium flame till it is cooked. Stir occasionally till all the peices turn light brown and evenly fried.
Make powder of cumin/jeera.Dry roast besan/gramflour in hot pan/kadai onlow flame, taking care not to burn the flour.Remove and mix well with chilli powder, jeera/cumin powder and hing.Add this powder to cooked pavakai in the pan and saute.Keep stiring for a while and add little salt just required for the powder.Mix and remove.
This can be had with roti,and also with hot rice with ghee along with raw onion pieces.
Many of the fried curries called'VEPUDU'in Andhra style is had with raw onion pieces when mixing with rice.Raw onion goes well with Gongura pachadi mixed with rice.