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.

Paal curry Kuzhambu

Nostalgia
Food evokes fond memories like no other. I would say there is nothing else in the world that has this innate ability to trigger happy memories time and again. I am sure everyone has a few special dishes that is linked to happiness, fun and laughter.

Paal curry Kuzhambu is one such dish for me. It brings at the same time longing and fond memories, memories of carefree childhood, fun and the sun. Every summer the normal routine was to have a hearty breakfast, heavy lunch and a fantastic dinner and the time in between would be spent on visits to the river, mango grove, swimming in the well and of course fishing in the canal. Hearty breakfasts that I remember were alwasys the ones that had Paal Curry Kuzhambu on the menu.

Dosai does not taste like dosai unless it is eaten with Paal curry Kuzhambu. Digressing a little, when I think about it I have only memories of eating the dish never having watched it being cooked. Why do you think this is so,

Americans have it right atleast in this situation, where most homes have the kitchen as the central room around which the rest of the house is designed. This is very smart considering that most of the activities happen in the kitchen and especially helpful if there are young kids, you can have an eye on them while also getting dinner ready. Compare this with kitchens in India, where it is the last room in the house or in many cases it is situated such that you would never have to see it. It almost seems like it is not cool to have your kitchen visible to the outside world.
There might have been several reasons why this was so? If only the kitchens were more accessible maybe I would have spend time more time there learning from the masters.

Now back to topic and without further adieu here is the recipe for Paal curry Kuzhambu an attempt to creating my slice of childhood happiness.


Paal Curry Kuzhambu



Ingredients
1. 2 1/2 cups of Coconut milk (you could use readymade coconut milk but nothing beats the taste of fresh extracted coconut milk, consistency should be like that of 1% milk)
2. 1 potato boiled and cut into tiny pieces
3. 1/2 onion chopped fine
4. 2 green chillies cut into rounds
5. seasoning - mustard, curry leaves chopped
6. a fistful of chopped corriander leaves
7. 1 tsp oil

Paste
1. 1 1/2 tsp corriander seeds
2. kasakasa 1 tsp (poppy seeds)
3. 1 or 2 green chillies

the above should be made into a paste, it is tough making a paste out of poppy seeds and corriander seeds, so powder them first, it is easy to powder poppy seeds if a few grains of salt is added (thank you athai for the tip) and then blend them with the green chilly.


Method
1. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil, add the mustard seeds when they start to pop add the curry leaves, cut green chillies and onions and saute till the onions are translucent.
2. add the potatoes and mix well.
3. Add the ground mixture with a little bit of water and salt and cook till the raw smell goes.
4. Reduce the flame, add the coconut milk keep stirring as you are adding the milk and boil till the coconut milk gets hot. Test for salt, switch off and remove from the stove.

Very Important, Do not stop stirring or raise the stove temperature to above a high low because the coconut milk will break and curdle.



Serve hot with dosais, it tastes best when the dosai is soaked. I assure you, you will not stop eating unless you summon all your willpower and bring it to a halt. End with a big nap.