Bitter gourd may appear to be an ingredient of lesser use due to its bitter flavor, at the same time various bitter gourd curry recipes are quite popular for their health benefits. Bitter gourd is a significant ingredient in Japanese Okinawa cuisine and its increasing use is considered as the cause of higher life expectancies in the region. The taste enhancers that are usually added to bitter gourd recipes are onion, tomato, fenugreek seeds, coriander powder and mango powder.
Bitter gourd dishes are widely prepared in almost every household in South India in Andhra region. Stir fry and stuffed bitter gourd dishes are popular. I already posted a recipe in this blog which is from Andhra cuisine. I thought of sharing this north Indian type too, which I viewed in Urdu channel and the ingredients used for stuffing were little different from that of Andhra cuisine. The oblong shape and hollow interior makes bitter gourd an excellent vegetable for stuffing purposes. Though the preparation time is longer as in any stuffed curry preparation, the dish looks and tastes good and it is worth the effort put, to prepare the same.
I am sure all of you will agree if I say "Variety is the spice of life". Trying a new dish has kept be active all these 32 years of cooking and keeps me busy after I started sharing it with my blogger friends.
I used some ten tiny bittergourd, but the ingredients used for stuffing will be enough for the big sized bittergourd. Here is the recipe.
PREPARATION
Scrape the whole karela and apply salt and keep..
Apply salt for scraped peel and leave for half an hour.
Squeeze the peel and reserve 2 tablespoon for stuffing.
Slit the karela in the centre and remove the seeds and pulp.
Tender seeds can be left .
Rinse in a bowl of water and squeeze.
Finely chop the onions and keep.
Take saunf/fennel seeds,coriander seeds, methi/fenugreek seeds, salt,red chili powder,
aamchor powder, cumin seeds, chopped green chili and add few drops of water and crush
in a pestle and keep.
METHOD
Heat 2 teaspoon of oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion and fry till light brown.
Add 2 tablespoon of the peel of karela and fry.
Add the crushed masala and mix.
Add 2 tablespoon of water.
Put off flame and remove.
Stuff the prepared masala in bitter gourd/karela and keep sealed with tooth pick(make 2 pieces of each tooth pick and use) and arrange them in a plate. (since I used tiny ones I did not use tooth pick)
In a bowl take besan/chickpea flour and add salt and mix with curd.
Apply this paste rubbing on the stuffed bitter gourd.
Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan and spread allover by rotating the pan.
Place the bitter gourd in the pan. Keep slightly turning and cook.
Then cover with a lid and cook on low fire for 15 minutes.
Check in between to see if the gourd is not burnt.
When brown and cooked remove.
Remove the toothpicks, garnish with coriander leaves.
Sprinkle aamchor or chat masala and serve.
Tasty stuffed bitter gourd can be had with roti or rice.
Bitter gourd dishes are widely prepared in almost every household in South India in Andhra region. Stir fry and stuffed bitter gourd dishes are popular. I already posted a recipe in this blog which is from Andhra cuisine. I thought of sharing this north Indian type too, which I viewed in Urdu channel and the ingredients used for stuffing were little different from that of Andhra cuisine. The oblong shape and hollow interior makes bitter gourd an excellent vegetable for stuffing purposes. Though the preparation time is longer as in any stuffed curry preparation, the dish looks and tastes good and it is worth the effort put, to prepare the same.
I am sure all of you will agree if I say "Variety is the spice of life". Trying a new dish has kept be active all these 32 years of cooking and keeps me busy after I started sharing it with my blogger friends.
I used some ten tiny bittergourd, but the ingredients used for stuffing will be enough for the big sized bittergourd. Here is the recipe.
INGREDIENTS
Bittergourd/Karela/pavakai
|
6
|
Bittergourd peel
|
2 tblsp
|
Onion
|
4
|
Saunf/fennel seeds
|
2 tsp
|
Coriander seeds/dania
|
2 tsp
|
Fenugreek seeds/methi seeds
|
1 tsp
|
Cumin seeds/jeera
|
1/2 tsp
|
Dry mango powder/aamchor
|
1/2 tsp
|
Chili powder
|
¼ tsp
|
Green chili
|
2
|
Gram flour/besan
|
3 tsp
|
Curd/yoghurt
|
3 tsp
|
oil
|
2 tblsp + 2 tsp
|
Salt
|
to taste
|
Chat masala
|
¼ tsp
|
Coriander leaves
|
few
|
PREPARATION
Scrape the whole karela and apply salt and keep..
Apply salt for scraped peel and leave for half an hour.
Squeeze the peel and reserve 2 tablespoon for stuffing.
Slit the karela in the centre and remove the seeds and pulp.
Tender seeds can be left .
Rinse in a bowl of water and squeeze.
Finely chop the onions and keep.
Take saunf/fennel seeds,coriander seeds, methi/fenugreek seeds, salt,red chili powder,
aamchor powder, cumin seeds, chopped green chili and add few drops of water and crush
in a pestle and keep.
METHOD
Heat 2 teaspoon of oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion and fry till light brown.
Add 2 tablespoon of the peel of karela and fry.
Add the crushed masala and mix.
Add 2 tablespoon of water.
Put off flame and remove.
Stuff the prepared masala in bitter gourd/karela and keep sealed with tooth pick(make 2 pieces of each tooth pick and use) and arrange them in a plate. (since I used tiny ones I did not use tooth pick)
In a bowl take besan/chickpea flour and add salt and mix with curd.
Apply this paste rubbing on the stuffed bitter gourd.
Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan and spread allover by rotating the pan.
Place the bitter gourd in the pan. Keep slightly turning and cook.
Then cover with a lid and cook on low fire for 15 minutes.
Check in between to see if the gourd is not burnt.
When brown and cooked remove.
Remove the toothpicks, garnish with coriander leaves.
Sprinkle aamchor or chat masala and serve.
Tasty stuffed bitter gourd can be had with roti or rice.
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