Wednesday, May 6, 2020

STUFFED KARELA

STUFFED KARELA

"Karela" is the Hindi word for bitter gourd which is commonly available all over India. We call it Karathe in my mother tongue, Konkani. It is called Haagalakai in Kannada and Pavakkai in Tamil.

You might be interested to know that bitter gourd has numerous health benefits.

I make it a point to use bitter gourd in my cooking at home from time to time. Elsewhere in this blog, therefore, you will find recipes for dishes with bitter gourd such as:-
Today's recipe is for a dish from North Indian cuisine called Stuffed Karela. This has been adapted from Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khazana.

This dish calls for the small sized bitter gourd.  Lightly scraping the bitter gourd to reduce the bitterness is optional.  I have not done so.


Ingredients:-



  • Small Bitter Gourds, 10-12
  • Medium-sized Onion, finely chopped, 1
  • Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp
  • Chilli Powder, 1 tsp
  • Coriander Powder, 1 tsp
  • Coconut Gratings, 1/2 cup
  • Peanuts,  roasted and crushed to a coarse powder, 1/2 cup 
  • Fennel Seeds, 1/2 tsp
  • Dry Mango Powder, (Amchoor), 1/2 tsp
  • Coriander Leaves, chopped, 1/2 tbsp + some for garnish
  • Salt, to taste
  • Oil, 1 tbsp for the stuffing + 2 tbsp for shallow frying the karelas 
Method:-

Wash the karela and pat them dry. Slit them with a knife and remove the seed without breaking the karela.
Rub salt to the karela and keep aside for about 30 minutes
After 30 minutes, wash the karelas and keep aside

For the Stuffing:

 Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a thick-bottomed kadhai and on medium heat add the chopped onion and sauté till it becomes translucent
To this add the turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder and mix well
Also add the coconut gratings, roasted and coarsely crushed peanut powder, fennel seeds and 1/2 tbsp of coriander leaves and salt to taste
Mix and cook well
This forms the stuffing for the karela




Stuff each of the karela with the prepared mixture/stuffing




Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a kadhai and on medium heat shallow fry the stuffed karela till they are evenly cooked on all sides
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves
Transfer the Stuffed Karela to a serving plate



2 comments:

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