Karela (Bitter melon or gourd)
photo by pfgastaldi
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 12
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 1 lb bitter melon (karela)
- 2 potatoes, peeled,cut in long strips and half cooked
- 2 chopped onions
- 2 chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons oil
-
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1⁄4 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon mango powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
directions
- Rinse bitter melon.
- Trim on both ends as needed and scrape any blemishes or hard skin.
- Cut into small rounds.
- Heat the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
- Add karela almost in a single layer; stir and cook until brownish.
- Reduce the heat if they tend to burn.
- Add the onions, potatoes and all the seasonings; stir until the potatoes are cooked.
- Add the tomatoes.
- Cook slowly on medium low heat, half covered, stirring as needed, until everything is cooked.
- Variation: To make STUFFED KARELA: Mix all the seasonings for stuffing, substituting 1 teaspoon cumin powder for cumin seeds.
- Using a paring knife, make a long slit in each karela, from one end to another (leaving two ends and bottom of the pod intact).
- Keep the slit open with your thumb and use a spoon to fill the opening with the stuffing.
- Stuff all the karela this way.
- Cook karela in a wide skillet using 2 tablespoons oil, almost in a single layer, on medium heat.
- Stir gently so that stuffing does not come out.
- When half cooked, add the onions.
- Reduce heat to medium low, cooking slowly, half covered or uncovered, until karela are browned.
Reviews
-
Mom used to make this all the time when I was a kid and I always hated it! I thought I would make it for myself and my husband. It's really hard to measure what a pound of Karela is. It would have been more helpful to have stated the number of Karela (large, medium, or small) that were required for the recipe. I purchased 4, and having never bought bitter melon before, I had no idea how to pick them out. I ended up getting 2 that were perfect, and 2 that were very very ripe - the seeds of the ripe ones were bright red and gooey! I ended up scooping the seeds out and usinng the remaining part. Make sure they are hard and not squishy when purchasing. Also, I rubbed salt like suggested and squeezed out as much of the bitterness as possible. It was still bitter, but delicious! And it was even better knowing that I was eating something that is very good for me! Thanks for the recipe.
-
This is EXCELLENT! Thanks to you and this recipe I am now beginning to, in the twenty second year of my life, taste bittergourd! Hehe! My mom is so pleased about this. I just had to add 1/2 tsp. of salt more to this dish, other than that, the measurements of all the ingredients were PERFECT! I will have to try the stuffed style some time later, though, I quite recall having made them before and enjoying them as well. Thank YOU so muchfor posting this in response to my reqest. This will be a regular on our table. UPDATE: I have made this so many many times from the day I first tried it and my family loves it so much. Just wanted to say thanks once again to you for posting this:)
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
kusum gupta
Poughkeepsie, NY
After a successful professional career of 36 years, I am involved in several activities, for example,:
Teach Indian cooking, organize India festival, member of Interfaith Council.
Have published a cookbook 'Recipes with a Spice - Indian Cuisine for Balanced Nutrition' available from me at a discount price. Visit [http://www.healthyindiancuisine.com/] Also published 'Hindu Spirituality - A Practical Approach based on the Bhagavad Gita'.