Bitter Gourd Fry Recipe | Karela Sabzi Recipe

BITTER GOUD FRY RECIPE

Bitter gourd fry, more commonly known as Karela sabzi in India, is a semi-dry side dish where sliced or chopped bitter gourd is cooked with onions and spices. A typical tempering with cumin seeds, curry leaves and a gentle sprinkling of warm spices is all it takes to turn this into a mouthwatering side.

A healthy and diabetic friendly dish, this bitter gourd fry pairs well with rice, roti, chapati or as a side in any Indian meal. It makes a great addition to lunch boxes.

Ingredients like jaggery / sugar, tamarind or tons of whole spices are not added here as the cooking process blunts the bitterness on its own. Avoid using soft and ripe bitter gourd that has red seeds as they are toxic. Bitter gourd should be firm and unripe.

HOW TO REDUCE BITTERNESS IN KARELA ? Some bitter gourds taste extremely bitter. To reduce the bitter taste, you may sprinkle salt to the chopped or sliced pieces and rest aside for 30 minutes. Last squeeze them in between your palms to extract some of the juice. The bitter taste reduces but also note that the medicinal values are reduced in the karela.

The beauty of this recipe is that even kids would love to eat bitter gourd with "dal rice" with a liberal amount of ghee. Follow my step by step photo recipe to prepare Bitter Gourd Fry. If you like this recipe share it, tweet it and pin it. Please do try and post your comments.

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RECIPE FOR BITTER GOURD FRY

Coarse : Lunch

Cuisine : South Indian

Author : Jayashree Karthik

Prep Time : 5 min

Cook Time : 15 min

Total Time : 20 min

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INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp hing

1 spring curry leaves

1 onion - finely chopped

1 green chilli - slit

250 gm bitter goud - cut into round thin slices

salt - to taste

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp fennel seed powder

1/4 cup water - to sprinkle and cook - if needed

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp coriander leaves - finely chopped

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PROCEDURE

wash and slice bitter gourd thin or you may chop them to bite size pieces, and discard the seeds

heat oil in a pan and temper with cumin seeds and when they begin to sizzle, add hing and curry leaves, saute for few seconds

add finely chopped onion and saute well until the onion turns transparent

now add thinly sliced bitter gourd slices and saute for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat or until slightly tender, if the pan is too dry, just sprinkle some water and mix well

once the bitter gourd is slightly tender, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and fennel seeds powder. mix everything well

cover and cook again on a very low heat until it is softly cooked. check for salt or spices as per your taste

once bitter gourd cooked well, turn off the stove and squeeze in some lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves

serve with hot steamed rice or chapathi

Enjoy!

NOTES

adjust spice level according to your taste
you can also cut bitter gourd in to small pieces
if your bitter gourd is tender, cook the seeds along with the fry

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BITTER GOURD FRY WITH STEP BY STEP PHOTO RECIPE

take 1 large bitter gourd

cut into thin round circles

scoop out the seeds and discard it if its too bitter

heat oil in a pan and temper with cumin seeds

after the seeds sizzle, add hing and curry leaves

saute for few seconds

add finely chopped onion and green chilli

saute for few minutes until the onion turns translucent

add thinly sliced bitter gourd

saute for 2-3 minutes, cover and cook on low heat until the gourd is slightly tender or half cooked.

keep stirring in between and sprinkle some water if the pan is too dry.

i didn't add any water, but if the veggie is not tender, you may need to splash some water

once the gourd becomes slightly tender, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, fennel seed powder and salt

mix everything well and saute for a minute.

cover and cook the bitter gourds for another 5-7 minutes on low flame until bitter gourd is completely soft cooked. If the gourd looks very dry, sprinkle some water and cook