Kakarakaya aka bittergourd/ bitter melon/ karela as the name suggests has a bitter undertone. It has a cucumber/ melon like texture. It originated in India and is now widely used in most East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines. I personally like bittergourd because of its taste and also because of its health benefits.

It is packed with nutrients - Vitamin A and C, folate, potassium etc.It can help reduce blood sugar.Could reduce cholesterol levelsMay aid in weight loss

Dry curry with bitter gourd

The most popular way of cooking bitter melon in Andhra is to fry it in liberal amount of oil until nice and crispy. But being a little health conscious cook, I prefer to use only the required amount of oil and no more. So, I am always in the look out for healthier recipes with this veggie. Today’s recipe is from a cookbook, Vantalu Pindivantalu by Malathi Chandur. This book was first published way back in 1974, so there were no pictures and the recipes wre written with no measurements. Everything wa s written in terms of fistfulls and a little bit more. So here’s a recipe with the measurements I came up with. The curry ended up super tasty, do give it a try. I’m sure that the masala would taste great with other veggies too.

Ingredients

This recipe is made with just a few pantry ingredients:

Fresh Bitter gourd/ bitter melonChana dal (dried split peas)Coriander seedsDry red chiliesOnionTamarind pasteDry grated coconut

Instructions

Make the Spice Paste: 10. Heat oil in a saute pan, add the chopped bittergourd. 11. Fry until it turns golden, about 8-10 minutes. 12. Add the ground masala paste, mix well and cook for 4-5 minutes on medium-low flame. 13. The spice paste will start of a little wet but once cooked on low flame, it will dry up and coat the veggie.

Tips to remove bitterness in Bitter gourd:

A lot of people love the bitter taste of bitter melon. But if you are not, then I have a couple of tricks to mellow down the bitterness:

Boil or microwave chopped bittergourd with sour yogurt or tamarind paste and salt until the veggie is par-cooked. Let cool for a few minutes, then squeeze the pieces to remove some of the bitterness.Mix chopped raw pieces with salt and a pinch of turmeric. Set aside for as long as you can - at least 1~2 hours, up to overnight. Refrigerate if soaking for more than hours. Then squeeze the pieces.

How to Serve:

This dry curry is great to serve as a side dish to rice and dal. Here are a few dishes that would go great with this curry:

Mamidikaya Pappu (Mango dal)Parippu | Kerala Style DalTangy Amti DalMixed Dal Sambar with Onion & Radish Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 57Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 4Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 95Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 83Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 31Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 55Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 84Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 20Kakarakaya Podi Kura Recipe   Bittergourd Dry Curry - 99