Sunday, May 29, 2011

Stuffed Bitter Gourd (Pavakka/Kakarakaya/Karela Masala)

Lately I have been making a lot of recipes from Bitter Gourd. I am always trying to make something new and I stumbled upon one such cool recipe from Malar Gandhi's blog. I followed her recipe 90%. I could not follow it to the T due to taste preferences. You must visit her blog, she has truly a nice space. You can either get the recipe from here or from her blog, Here. (P.S: I am getting an internal error while pasting the link, will try again later)
My husband and I loved the taste and I cant wait to make this another time. Do try this and let me know.
Ingredients:
Bitter Gourd/Kakarakaya: 4, small
Tomatoes: 2, small chopped
Onions: 2 small chopped
Ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Salt: according to taste
Turmeric powder: 1/4 powder
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin Powder: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 string
Oil: 2-3 tbsp

Method:
  • Wash the bitter gourd thoroughly and trim the edges. Now make a vertical opening with a sharp knife, keeping the edges intact. Basically, enough slit/opening to be able to remove the seeds and stuff the stuffing. With the back of the spoon remove the seeds and pulp, making sure to keep the edges intact.
  • Steam the bitter gourd for 10 mins. (Alternatively, you can also skip this step. I personally have steamed this to soften the veggie). 
  • Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds followed by chopped onions. 
  • When the onions are fried, add the ginger garlic paste and try for a few more seconds. 
  • Now add the tomatoes and cover and cook until tomatoes are cooked. 
  • Now add all the mentioned powders, including salt and stir. Remove from heat. 
  • Now stuff this tomato curry into the bitter gourd, one by one. Do not worry if you are unable to stuff more than 2 or 3 tbsp per one bitter gourd. You will still have some left over curry. Leave this aside for the moment.
  • Heat another pan and add 2 tbsp oil. Now carefully lower each bitter gourd and gently fry one side at a time taking care not to burn it.Try not to let the stuffing come out. Some of it will come out anyway.
  • Once the bitter gourd is completely cooked on all sides, add the remaining left over curry into this and stir gently.
Serve this hot with rice or roti.

Note: Other recipes for bitter gourd are:
1. Pvakkai Kuzhambu
2. Pavakkai Fry

21 comments:

  1. stuffed bitter gourd is my all time favorite. Love to have it with parantha. Love the way you have prepared. I'll definitely try it.

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  2. I love bittergourd..thanx for sharing the recipe dear.

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  3. Biter gourd is considered to be one of the healthiest veg and your preparation looks delicious..

    Sunanda's Kitchen

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  4. healthy and yummy dish :)
    thX for posting :)

    DeepthiDigvijay
    Good Food Recipes
    Coffe With Me Deepthi

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  5. i love this very much and cook oftenly here veg is looking spicy and tasty

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  6. Stuffed bittergourds are always welcome at my home,simply makes me drool..

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  7. Wow, looks fantastic. Very nice recipe, new to me though.

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  8. Bitter Gourd masala is so nutritious and prevents many ailments. Thanks for posting this wonderful recipe.

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  9. healthy and wonderful recipe !!

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  10. I love this ..we make in a very different method though ...

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  11. Dear Madhu,

    Thanks for trying my recipe, means a lot to me. Hope you guys enjoyed it...stuffed bitter gourd is always a hit.

    The thing is, google server crashed couple of weeks ago' ever since, I have trouble publishing and to give comments! It is not completely fixed at my end, so...that is the reason for internal server error.

    Hope they resolve everything back to normal,soon. I will let you know...

    Thanks:)

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  12. Sounds Healthy!! I have never tried stuffed bitter gourd; now I am curious!

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  13. Never tried this one...want to give it a try...for sure...

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  14. Never tried stuffed gourds before.. These look yummy !!

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  15. very nice space of yours.....

    Happy to follow you...

    chk out my space too:

    http://anuzhealthykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/event-july-healthy-fiber-and-protein.html

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