But one distinct memory I have was eating stuffed karela at our dear neighbors place; karelas were stuffed and tightly closed with kitchen twine and then sautéed until golden brown (may be in a batter—don’t remember that), but I remember them just melting in my mouth with no bitterness at all. I guess that was when I started really noticing and liking this bitter veggie. I don’t mind slight bitterness anymore, but personally I try to take out as much of that bitter taste as I can by pre-cooking the gourd with yogurt or tamarind and then using the veggie as needed. For today’s Bengali dish for BM#5, I picked this delicious bitter gourd dish from Sandeepa’s Bong cookbook. I have to say this is one of the best karela dishes I have ever made. It’s a dry curry and the poppy seeds coat the bitter gourd and give them an almost creamy taste when eating. A must try for all Karela fans. Did I mention the original recipe only has 5 ingredients, but with my pre-cooking the ingredient list grew to a whopping 6 ingredients that includes salt too.
Sandeepa’s Original recipe here.
