Masala Karela Fry

Bitter gourd is one mysterious vegetable, in our house. I’ve never tried cooking with it, because it always looks complicated, but the two of us love it.

 

My mother-in-law makes this wonderful fried bitter gourd stuffed with masala, Mom has this special recipe which kills the bitter taste and imparts a sweetish taste to the dish, and my cook has a recipe for a curry in which he stuff the bitter gourd with a spice paste based on onions. All of these are a huge hit in the house.

This recipe is heavily inspired by something a friend gave me. His recipe talks about a masala paste of jaggery and cumin seeds, which was absolutely yummy.

So , here is the recipe I tried over the weekend. The husband lapped it up with hot rice and ghee and asked for seconds. And I loved it too…

It was a perfect mix of the bitter taste of the gourds, the sweetness of the jaggery, the tarty taste of the tamarind paste, and over all, a great side dish.

Spiced Karela Fry

Level – Medium
Time to prepare – 30 min
Serves - 2

Preparing the Bitter gourd

Ingredients

Karela / Bitter gourd - 2-3 medium sized
Turmeric powder - 1 Tbsp
Salt - 1 Tbsp

Instructions

Prepare the bitter gourd by scraping off the warts and cutting them into small pieces. Wash them with turmeric and salt, squeezing thoroughly. This would reduce the bitterness to a great extent.

For the tastemaker paste

Ingredients

Onion - 1 small, chopped
Sesame seeds - 2 Tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 Tbsp
Garlic - 10-12 cloves
Jaggery - 1 Tbsp
Red chilli Powder - 1 Tbsp
Tamarind paste - 1 Tbsp

Instructions

Grind the ingredients for the masala together without adding any water. 

For the Fry

Ingredients

Cooking oil - 3 tbsp.
Salt - to taste

Instructions

Heat oil in a pan. Add the gourd pieces, turmeric and salt. Sauté for 10 minutes.
Now add the masala, and ensure the gourd pieces are coated with the masala. 
Sauté for 5 minutes.
Add very little water, if required, mix well and close the lid. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes on medium flame.
Remove the lid, add curry leaves and ensure the moisture evaporates.

Keep stirring to almost dry consistency and turn off the flame.
Serve with hot rice or rotis(Indian bread).