Roasted chickpea flour coated Bitter Gourd Chips - Oven Roasted

Bitter Gourd is one of those vegetables that is not only good when eaten in any form but I do agree it has to be made agreeable to some of the palettes. We have one such in our household. DD2 is not very fond of it though she eats whatever is made out of it. But there is one preparation that does not need prodding. It is this roasted bitter gourd chips. To most of the bitter goud preparations I add a small quanity of sugar mostly jaggery to cut through the bitterness.

What is unique about this recipe is that it does not has any added sugar but the crunchiness makes it a picker upper as you would any crunchy snack. If we are being honest about it the bitter gourd chip is far superior to the over rated potato chip. I just cook this and put it on the counter top and it disappears in an hour and the person who has enjoyed it most is DD2 :)

I have been roasting bitter gourd chips following this recipe - broiled bitter gourd or using the same ingredients and transferring the contents to a baking sheet and oven roasting them fully. So over the summer a friend sends me a picture of her oven roasted bitter gourd chips coated with rosted chickpea flour (powdered pottukadalai or dalia ). What a fantastic idea. So glad she mentioned it.

So whenever I have excess bitter gourd, or ones that are starting to ripen, they quickly become chips :)The most time consuming task if you ask me is the cutting part. If you do not mind the seeds the process is much simpler but if you want to remove the seeds it becomes a slightly time consuming task.

Recipe in pictures,

Cut the bitter gourd to rounds and clean the seeds.
Spread them out on a cookie sheet to air dry for about 5-10 minutes.
Take roasted channa dal with dried red chilies in a coffee grinder or blender and powder them.
Take the clean bitter gourd pieces in a wide mouthed vessel and add the spices to it.
Add the powdered chickpea flour and toss, add the rice flour and toss.
Spray a cookie sheet with oil or spray and then spread the coated bitter gourd .
Place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven and roast for about 15 - 20 minutes.

This is a fantastic as a side dish or a snack by itself.

Roasted chickpea flour coated Bitter Gourd Chips - Oven Roasted
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time:20 - 30 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 lbs of bitter gourd
2. 1 cup of roasted chickpeas (dalia, pottukadalai)
3. 1/4 cup of rice flour
4. 4-5 red chilies
5. 2 tsp turmeric powder
6. 2 tsp of chili powder
7. 2 tsp salt or to taste
8. oil as required

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. I used convection roast setting. If you are not using convection, increase the temp to
2. Wash and dry the bitter gourd and let it air dry.(See Note:) Cut the end of the bitter gourd and cut them into thin rounds.
3. Remove the seeds from the bitter gourd if you want else leave it be, the seeds also roast to a crunch.
4. Spread them out on a cookie sheet to dry if need be else transfer them to a wide mouthed vessel big enough to toss them with teh spices.
5. Add the turmeric powder, salt, chili powder and toss with the cut bitter gourd.
6. Add the powdered chickpea flour, followed by the rice flour and the oil.
7. Use your fingers to mix all together or toss to coat the bitter gourd.
8. Use a cookie or baking tray, line with aluminum foil, spray with oil and spread the coated bitter gourd pieces in one layer. This is very important for crisp chips.
9. Roast for 15 minutes. Open flip them around and roast for another 10-15 minutes. The time depends on your oven, the thickenss of the bitter gourd, so check for a few minutes. I left for a few minutes extra and it got dark brown.
10. Note:It is best to wash the bitter gourd the previous night and let them air dry on a kitchen towel.

Serve as a side to any rice dish or by itself. Like what you are reading? Subscribe!

Bitter Gourd Pickle

Have you tried growing bitter gourd? They reliably produce fruit all through summer without much fuss. There are a lot of people who love this vegetable but of course there quite a few who hate this vegetable also. So there is a love or hate relationship with bitter gourd perhaps because it is an acquired taste. Bitter gourd is very good at managing blood sugar levels so its popularity is increasing. There are people who swallow bitter gourd pills but I'd say go with the real deal. It tastes far better.

I simply like the taste however it is cooked. It has been my wish to try bitter gourd pickles for a long time but never quite got around to making them but I have been finessing the recipe in my head for even longer. Two things I had in mind, I wanted it like the fish or shrimp pickles from Kerala and also the way my ammayee makes garlic pickle. The former I have only tasted the latter my grandma gave the recipe. The garlic pickle if you are interested in here.

I have made these pickles twice already. I added a few garlic cloves the first time. The second time I left the garlic out but added jalapenos. The two are purely optional. I added those for added taste and since I had those readily available. The amount of lemon juice added depends on how sour you want it to be. I added the maximum that could be without it becoming overly sour.

Usually it is better to use young and tender bitter gourd where the seeds don't have to be removed. If you are using bitter gourd which is slightly mature you can remove the seeds after slicing but it is ok to leave them be.

This pickle is vey easy to make and for those who like bitter gourd, this is something to be tried.

Cut the bitter gourd, peel and slice the garlic.
Get the lime/lemon juice and the other spices ready.
Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the bitter gourd pieces and fry till the bitter gourd pieces turn brown.
Fry the garlic pieces and set it aside. Then add more oil to the pan and when hot add the mustard seeds.
When the mustard starts to pop, add curry leaves. Add the garlic and fried bitter gourd pieces and turmeric powder.
Add in the lemon juice and let it boil for 5 minutes. Now add the chili powder and mix it in.
Add in the fenugreek mustard powder and mix and turn off the heat.

The pickle stays on the counter top for 2 weeks. Refrigerate for use longer.

Bitter Gourd Pickles
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 lb of Bitter Gourd - about 2 cups of sliced bitter gourd
2. 6-8 garlic gloves sliced
3. 3/4 - 1 cup of sesame oil
4. 2 tbsp of red chili powder (more or less)
5. 2 tsp turmeric powder
6. 1/2 - 3/4 cup of lemon juice (I used both limes and lemons)*
7. seasonings: 1 tsp mustard seeds, curry leaves
8. 1/2 tbsp salt
9. 1/4 tsp of roasted mustard and fenugreek seeds powder
10. a small pinch of asfoetida

Method

1. Cut the ends of the bitter gourd and slice the bitter as thick or thin as you want. I made 1/8 of an inch slices.
2. In a shallow wide mouthed pan, add about 1/4 cup of the oil and when hot shallow fry the bitter gourd pieces in batches and set them aside. Remove the bitter gourd pieces from oil when they start to turn slightly brown. They should not be fried to crisp.
3. Once the bitter gourd is done add the garlic pieces and fry them for a minute. Take care not to burn the garlic. Set it aside.
4. Now add the rest of the oil and when it is hot add the mustard seeds and when the seeds start to pop add the curry leaves followed by the fried bitter gourd pieces and garlic. Add turmeric powder.
5. Fry for a few minutes till the bitter gourd pieces are mixed in the oil. Add the lemon juice and let the liquid come to a boil.*
6. Add the chili powder and salt and mix well. Let it cook for about 3-4 minutes. Check for salt and heat. Add the powdered mustard -fenugreek powder, mix and turn off the heat.
7. Let the pickle sit for a couple of days before using. Transfer to sterilized glass jars**. Stays fresh on the counter top for 10 days. Refrigerate if you want it to stay longer.
8. Note:*If you need a little bit more gravy in the pickle increase the quantity of lemon juice. It might increase the tartness of the pickle too. A combination of lime and lemons tends to keep the tartness low.
9. **For sterilizing the glass jars I put in the microwave for 1 or 1 1/2 minutes.

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Pan Roasted Bitter Gourd with Potatoes

Bitter gourd is one of those vegetables that people love to hate. But there are some of us who actually quite like this vegetable. It grows on you and it is good for you. Bitter gourd has several good properties like lowering the blood sugar level but that is just the bonus we eat bitter gourd because we actually like it.

Cooking bitter gourd with tamarind and a tiny bit of sugar (jaggery or palm sugar) is the most popular way but adding sugar is quite optional. Making a kara kuzhambu (spicy curry) with it is another way. Roasting is perhaps the perfect vehicle, no sugar addition needed and everybody eats it.

Here are some of the recipes that you can try,

Bitter Gourd in a Peanut Gravy
Pan Roasted Bitter Gourd with Gongura Leaves and dried fish
Tangy Bitter Gourd from Sukham Ayu
Bitter Gourd Poriyal
Bitter Gourd Stir Fry with spicy Garlic Powder
Oven roasted/broiled Bitter Gourd
Roasted Bitter Gourd with Chili Fried Fish
Bitter Gourd Kara Kuzhambu
Bitter Gourd With Cowpeas (thattapayir)
Bitter Gourd in tamarind sauce (pulikulambu)

While roasted potatoes is DD2's favorite and no prizes for guessing that bitter gourd is not up there with potatoes, so how about mixing the two. The potatoes suppress the bitterness of bitter gourd and is also goes great together. The only deal with bitter gourd is it takes a bit of time to get the roasted bitter gourd to get the caramelized texture.

Clean the bitter gourd and cut into half moons.
Peel and slice the potatoes into sticks and get the onions and green chilies ready.
In a cast iron pan add the oil followed by the onions and green chilies, followed by the bitter gourd pieces.
Continue sauteing the bitter gourd in medium low flame till half cooked. Now add in the potatoes. Once potatoes are half cooked add in the spice powders and salt and continue till the potatoes are fully cooked and the bitter is caramelized. The sugar if using should be added towards the end of the cooking process just before turning off the heat.

Pan Roasted Bitter Gourd with Potatoes
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients

1. 6-8 medium sized bitter gourd
2. 1 cup thinly sliced onions
3. 6-8 green chilies
4. 2 potatoes
5. 2 tsp turmeric powder
6. 1/2 tbsp chili powder
7. salt to taste
8. 1 tbsp oil *
9. 1/2 - 1 tbsp palm sugar (optional)
10. *I use a cast iron pan so a little bit more oil is required

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin sticks and keep them in water to avoid discoloration.
2. Split the bitter gourd lengthwise and remove the seeds from the inside and slice them into thin moons.
3. In a cast iron pan heat 1/4 of the oil, add the onions, green chilies and saute for a minute. **
4. Add in the bitter gourd and in medium low continue to stir, once half cooked in about 10 minutes or so add in the potatoes drained completely of water. Add in the oil at various intervals if needed.
5. Add in the turmeric powder, salt and chili powder after the potatoes are half cooked.
6. Continue to cook till the potatoes are completely cooked and soft. The bitter gourd should be caramelized by this time.
7. Add in the jaggery or palm sugar if using and cook for another 4-5 times.
8. **The onions tends to cook faster than bitter gourd, so adding them together will prevent the onions from getting charred.

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