Friday, March 2, 2012

Bitter Gourd Fry


          Like I mentioned earlier, I like bitter gourds very much, but since the other two people at home don't like it much, I hardly cooked them, especially this fry. I grew up, eating this at least once a week, my father being a big fan of this vegetable. I don't know whether I loved it then, but now, when I visit my parents I specifically ask for this. Couple of weeks back, I decided to make this just for me ( of course I made another curry for the rest of the family). This rarely happens or should I say, never happened. Since I have never made this curry, I called my mother for the recipe, and was very happy when it came out well, of course when she makes it, it tastes even better. But now, coming to the surprising part, the husband, who I thought, would never touch this curry, ended up finishing half of it. Do our tastes change as we grow older, well, but now I can make this fry more often..

Need To Have
  • Bitter Gourd - 1 packed cup, sliced
  • Mochai Or Papdi Lilva - 1/2 cup
  • Onion - 1 big chopped
  • Garlic - 4 or 5 chopped
  • Green Chillies - 4 chopped
  • Tomatoes - 2 very big ones chopped
  • Powdered Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
  • Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
  • Curry Leaves - 10 

Method
          Heat oil, add the fennel seeds powder followed by the onions, garlic and green chillies, saute till the onion turns transparent. Add the curry leaves and the tomatoes, saute till the tomatoes turn mushy, then add the turmeric powder, bitter gourd pieces and the mochai, cover and cook. Once they are cooked, remove the lid, keep frying on low heat for about 10 mins, add more oil if needed. Remove and serve with rice and dal or sambar.
Sending this to Vegetarian Food And Me for I'm The Star event,
                   to UK Rasoi for the "For U, Mum" event,
                   to Food Delicious for the Only South Indian event,
                   to Srav's Cooking Concepts for Vegan Diets - Only Plant Based event and
                   to Roshan's Cucina who is hosting this month Gayathri's WTML event .

Note
Add more or less green chillies, the bitterness of the vegetable is balanced with the hot green chillies and the sourness from the tomatoes.
You can leave out the garlic and mochai ( a type of broad beans), my mother never added them, of course garlic gives a nice flavor.




















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38 comments:

  1. Nice bitter fry Hema :). May be our taste buds keep on changing. even i started eating this now

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  2. I love bitter gourd fry! Looks delicious, would often have this whenever we eat at our local favourite Indian restaurant! Our taste buds do change over the years as we are more mature in our taste!

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  3. I love bitter gourd... urs look perfect

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  4. i never made using this combination. looks delicious. I ll try soon

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  5. This looks absolutely yummy..I should try this soon...Bookmarking this one..

    Aarthi
    http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/

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  6. Very delicious n yummy..I love bitter gourds!

    Please link your entries to EP Series-Cilantro /Cumin Event
    Inviting Hosts forEP Series-Herbs & Spices

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  7. i have never tried bitter gourd, but I now am seeing a lot of recipes popping up with this vegetable. I will need to look into trying it. Awesome pictures here.

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  8. Bitter gourd fry looks absolutely delicious...

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  9. I love bitter gourd. Never added tomato though.

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  10. Ohh this is my fav too..S loves mochai, so maybe i can use this combo & coax him to eat :D..Never tried with tomato too! Thanks for linking this to my event hema.. Its all my fav things :)

    Ongoing Event: I'm a STAR

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  11. Very ncie stir fry...my mom also make bitter gourd in similar way :) looks very tempting...
    Spicy Treats
    OnGoing Event:kitchen Chronicles - Summer Splash

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  12. Bitter gourd is one of my husbands favorite vegetable and i will not miss to make this dish and serve it to him! Thanks for the recipe.

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  13. We just made this! :-) Bittergourd seems to do the rounds in blogs too. Looks delicious Hema. Ido not use tomatoes.

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  14. Great stir fry!! Looks so delicious!!!

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  15. nice stir fry!...........will try it out.:)

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  16. Looks yummy dear.I too love bitter gourd.

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  17. I also like bitter gourd a lot. This combination of mochai and pavakkai is new to me..sounds and looks yum

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  18. delicious luking stir fry hema, great

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  19. i love bitter gourd too, but just like u i would gag at the stuff when i was a kid, so i guess tastes do change as we grow older?

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  20. nice combo of bitter gourd and mochai. even i too love bitter gourd

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  21. I love bitter gourd and like you add fennel seeds to it. This looks amazing and I think will have to make it soon. After seeing this post. wish to have it.
    You are right, our tastes keep changing. As a kid I never ate this and now relish it.

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  22. Hi Hema, bittergourd and lilva seems a unusual and interesting combination. Will try for sure. Thanks for sending it to my event.

    FOODELICIOUS

    MARCH EVENT, ‘ONLY’- SOUTH INDIAN & GIVEAWAYS

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  23. Yes they say our taste buds change every seven years...I can feel the change in myself...I have veggies as a child and now I have started loving veggies...nice curry...in my house it is the opposite...my husband loves karela and I do not...will make this for him :-)

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  24. You reminded me of my aunt's recipe of bitter gourd. I love this preparation. thanks for sharing

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  25. Very unique and delicious fry !! Thanks for linking to the event !!

    Ongoing event CC:Vegan Diet - Plant Based Food

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  26. innovative and delicious recipe... looks fabulous..

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  27. delicious looking bitter gourd fry

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  28. this is my hubby's favo! love adding mochai's! thanks for following. following you now!

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  29. I love Bitter guard too.. wonder why people are afraid f its bitter taste , i adore it.. :)

    Thnx for linking to the event

    Cheers
    UK Rasoi

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  30. hello Hema, thanks for linking this recipe to WTML.....i simply love bittergourd preparation....the addition of mochai is awesome...will give a try soon...

    cheers

    roshan

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  31. Love bitter gourd! Nice clicks!!

    Do contribute some of your wonderful recipes to my ongoing event. Would be delighted :)

    Chef Al dente On going event: Gimme GREEN!

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