3 Weeks 3 Bitter gourd Recipes

Collecting Bitter gourd recipes has been one of my favourite pass times. Summer is an excellent time to try out new recipes as I get about 4-5 bitter gourds every week from my garden. So thanks to my blog friends are in order,

1. Vaishali of Happy Burp for her Bitter Gourd and Mango Curry. A combination I have never tried before.

2. Dear Krishna Arjuna for her Kakarakaya kaarappodi(Spicy bitter gourd powder), a preparation that is absolutely lip smacking.




Classic Araicha Pavarkkai Kuzhambu
This is one way of cooking that is very popular in Kongu Naadu. This is a preparation I fall back on often and it was the recipe for the first week.


egg masala, moong dal, bitter gourd kuzhambu

Ingredients
1. 3-4 medium sized bitter gourds cut into rounds.
2. 1/2 Onion chopped roughly
3. 3-4 pods of garlic (optional)
4. 2 tbsp Jaggery (or as per taste)
5. 1 red chilly split in half and seeds removed
6. 1/2 cup of tamarind pulp
7. seasoning (mustard, cumin, methi, curry leaves)


Paste
1. 1/2 cup pearl onion or 1 medium size red onion chopped roughly
2. 2 tbsp corriander seeds
3. 2 tsp cumin seeds
4. 1 tsp pepper
5. 2/3 red chillies
fry the above in a little bit of oil and blend to a smooth paste

Optional
3 tbsp of grated coconut ground to a paste or 2 tbsp of pottukadalai (dalia) powdered or 6-8 almonds powdered

Method
1. In a pan heat oil and add the seasonings followed by the red chillies.
2. Add Onion and fry till translucent. add the garlic and fry a little bit.
3. Add the bitter gourd pieces and fry till they turn soft, alternately bitter gourd pieces can be fried separately with a little oil and added here.
4. Add the ground mixture and salt and mix well and when it is boiling add the tamarind pulp close the lid and cook for 6-8 minutes
5. Add the jaggery and the optional coconut paste mixture and remove from the heat in 2-3 minutes. I did not add coconut paste or the alternatives.



Goes well with rice and dal.

Bitter Gourd and Mango Curry
Then next week I tried Vaishali's Bitter Gourd and Mango Curry, I pretty much followed her recipe except for adding 1/2 red onion chopped just before the bitter gourd pieces.



This was a big hit even the kids liked it because the mango pieces masked the taste of the bitter gourd and so no scowls.


Bittergourd Podi





This week I tried Krishna Arjuna's Kakarakaya kaarappodi, [Can't find the original link, use this one from Vahrehvah] followed here for the most part, I did not have Bengalgram dal, so substituted Toor Dal, also cut down the Red chillies to about 6 since the 4 bitter gourds were not too big. This tasted excellent with rice mixed with ghee and the podi.