MASALA KARELA

 MASALA KARELA

Bitter Gourd, (which is called Karela in Hindi, Haggalakai in Kannada and Karathe in my mother tongue, Konkani) is one of the popular vegetables used in my house.

I use this often mainly because it has so many health benefits.

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for dishes made with bitter gourd such as:-

• Haagalakai Gojju
• Karathe Puddi Sagle
• Pyaz Wale Karele

Today's recipe is for an easy to make yet yummy side dish from North India made with bitter gourd called Masala Karela.

In this dish, the bitter gourd can either be deep fried or shallow fried. I choose to shallow fry it.

It goes great as an accompaniment to a meal of rice and dal.

Ingredients:

• Bitter Gourd ( Karela) , 3  or about 450 gms
• Onions, medium -sized, 2
• Chilli Powder, 1 tsp or to taste 
• Turmeric Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Coriander Powder, 1 and 1/2 tsp
• Tamarind Paste, 1/2 tsp 
• Garam Masala, 1/2 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, as required- deepening on whether you deep/shallow fry

Method:-

Wash the karela, chop off the two ends and cut into equal -sized roundels

Discard the seeds if they are too hard , retain if they are tender

Apply salt to the roundels and keep aside for about 30-45 minutes

Then squeeze out the water from the karela ( this makes it less bitter) and keep aside

Peel and slice the onions

Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan and shallow fry the karela till they get cooked and become golden brown in colour. Keep aside

(Alternatively, you can deep fry the karela) 

In the same kadhai, heat  1 and 1/2  to  2 tbsp of oil, add the sliced onion and a little salt and sauté till they become translucent

To this add the chilli powder, turmeric (haldi) powder, coriander powder and the tamarind paste

Mix well and sauté on low flame till the onions get well mixed with the spice powders

Now add the shallow fried karela and the garam masala powder

Mix again to ensure that the karela, onions and spices are well blended  

Switch off the gas and transfer the Masala Kareal to a serving bowl

Serve as a side dish with hot steamed rice and dal 

KAKARAKAYA PULUSU /BITTER GOURD CURRY

KAKARAKAYA PULUSU (BITTER GOURD CURRY)

Bitter gourd is frequently used in my cooking at home . I use it a lot because though it is bitter as the name suggests, we find it to be very tasty and of course it has many health benefits. It is very strong in Vitamins A and C and helps reduce blood sugar. It is commonly available all over India and is known as Haggalakai in Kannada, Pavakkai in Tamil, Karela in Hindi, and Kaarathe in my mother tongue, Konkani.

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for dishes made with bitter gourd, such as :- 

• Haagalakai Gojju
• Karathe Puddi Sagle 
• Pyaz Wale Karele

Today's recipe is from Andhra cuisine and gets it's name from Kakarakaya or Bitter Gourd in Telugu and Pulusu which is a Tamarind-based gravy. I have adapted this from Kakarakaya Pulusu from the well-known website Hebbar's Kitchen. 

I have preferred to keep this dish semi-dry but please adjust the consistency - adding more water while cooking it - to meet your requirements. 

We enjoyed this dish very much and hope you will, too! 

Ingredients:-

• Bitter Gourd, about 200 gms
• Tamarind, size of a lemon, 
• Small sized Onion, 1
• Ginger Garlic Paste, 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Jaggery, grated, 1 tbsp
• Salt,  to taste 
• Coriander Leaves, finely chopped, 2 tbsp for garnish

To Be Dry Roasted & Ground To A Masala Powder :-

• Peanuts, 2 tbsp
• Sesame (Til)  2 tbsp
• Chana Dal, 1 tsp
• Urad Dal, 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds, 1 tsp
• Coriander Seeds, 1 tsp
• Fenugreek (Methi) Seeds, 1/4 tsp
• Byadgi Red Chillis, 4

For Seasoning:-

• Mustard Seeds , 1 tsp
• Urad Dal, 1 tsp
• Chana Dal, 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing), 1/8 tsp 
• Dry Red Chilli, 1, broken into halves
• Oil, 3 tbsp

Method:-

Wash the bitter gourd, snip off the two ends, cut the bitter gourd into roundels and remove the seeds 

Apply salt to the bitter gourd and keep aside for half an hour

Peel and chop the onion 

Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of warm water for about 15 minutes and extract the juice. Keep aside.

In a thick-bottomed kadhai, dry roast the peanuts till they change colour,

Add the sesame seeds, chana dal, urad dal, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, methi seeds and Byadgi Red Chillies and roast on low flame till the dals change colour and the spices give off a good aroma 

Allow the roasted ingredients to cool and then transfer to a small mixer jar and grind to a fine powder. This forms the Masala Powder. Keep aside.

After half an hour of being kept with salt, squeeze out the juice from the bitter gourd 

In the same kadhai, heat 3 tbsp oil and fry the bitter gourd roundels on medium/low flame till they turn golden in colour. Keep aside.

In the remaining oil, do the seasoning by adding the mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, cumin seeds, asafoetida, and dry red chilli 

Once the mustard and cumin seeds splutter and the dal change colour, add the chopped onion and sauté till it becomes translucent

To this add the ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell goes

Now add the fried bitter gourd, turmeric powder, and salt and mix well

Add the prepared masala powder and mix well

Next add 1 cup of tamarind extract, grated jaggery and mix well 

Add water as required to get the desired consistency and bring to a boil

Lower the flame and cover and cook for about 5 minutes or till the oil separates

Switch off the gas

Lastly, garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves

Serve Kakarakaya Pulusu with hot steamed rice 

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:-

• Karathe Puddi Sagle from our Konkani cuisine. 
• Haagalakai Gojju from Karanataka
• Besan Karela from North India

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

PYAZ WALE KARELE

PYAZ WALE KARELE

The name for this dish comes from the two major ingredients namely Onions ( called Pyaz in Hindi) and Bitter Gourd ( called Karela in Hindi). Bitter Gourd is a vegetable which I have found draws two kinds of reactions. There are those, like in our house, who welcome it and we make this quite often. Others do not like the basic taste of this vegetable and avoid it!!!

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for dishes made with Bitter Gourd, such as Andhra-style Karela , Haagalakai Gojju from my Home State of Karnataka, and Karathe Puddi Sagle, from our GSB Konkani cuisine.

Today's dish was much appreciated in my house. It is adapted from Onion and Karela Subzi by Tarlaji Dalal the noted cookery expert. The sweetness of the onions and the addition of jaggery counter the inherent bitterness of the Bitter Gourd and give the dish a delicious taste.  If you wish you may use sugar in place of jaggery.

Ingredients:-

• Pyaz (Onions), large sized, 2 
• Karela (Bitter Gourd), medium-sized, 2
• Haldi (Turmeric) Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Chilli Powder, 2 tsp
• Jaggery, grated, 1 tbsp or to taste 
• Amchur ( Dry Mango Powder), 1 tsp
• Til (Sesame Seeds), 1 tbsp 
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, 2-3 tsp

Method:-

Cut the large sized onions length wise into thin slices so as to get about 2 cups
Wash the bitter gourds, snip off the two ends, cut them into thin roundels and de-seed them 

In a deep bowl mix together the bitter gourd roundels along with a little salt and keep aside for 20 to 30 minutes
The bitter gourds release water due to the addition of the salt
Squeeze out the water from the bitter gourd and spread them out on a clean kitchen towel and allow them to dry
Dry roast the sesame seeds on medium heat stirring continuously till they turn slightly golden. Keep  aside
Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadhai and on medium heat add the thin slices of onions and saute for 2 minutes
To this add the bitter gourd roundels, mix well, cover and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes stirring from time to time
Next add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, amchur powder, roasted sesame seeds, grated jaggery, salt, and 1 tbsp of water
Mix well and cook on medium flame for 2 minutes so that the bitter gourd gets well blended with the spices
Serve as a side dish with rice or rotis