Stuffed Bitter Gourd (Karela)
Makes 4 Servings. Nutrition info provided for 1 serving.
Equipment
- Steamer
Ingredients
- 6 bitter gourds (karela)
- 5 tbsp coriander seeds
- 3 tbsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1½ tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- ½ tbsp black cumin seeds (kalonji)
- ½ tbsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup yogurt
- 300 grams chopped onions
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- ½ tsp ginger paste
- 1½ tsp amchur powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cooking oil of your choice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- First scrape the peel off the karelas using a knife/scraper
- Make a long slit on each of the karelas
- Remove all the seeds from inside the karela
- Keep the removed seeds separately - these will be used for the karela stuffing
- Mix the 3 cups water with 1 cup yoghurt and beat the 2 well to make yoghurt water
- Then place the karelas in the yoghurt water
- On high flame, place the karelas to boil in a saucepan
- The karelas should be boiled till they change colour - From darker green to light green
- When the karelas change colour, strain the karelas, cool them and then squeeze karelas between the palms of your hands
- On another burner roast the dry masala for about 5 minutes - Corianders seeds, Fennel, Cumin, Black Cumin and Fenugreek seeds
- Once the roasted masalas have cooled down, grind them (we won't use all of the ground masala mix)
- Next we will coarsely grind the karela seeds
- Once we've grinded the karelas seeds add the chopped onions, ginger, garlic, amchur, chilli powder, garam masala
- Then add 6 tsp of the ground dry masalas (you can store what's left of the Karela Masala in an airtight container)
- Add salt as per taste (I added ⅕ tsp of salt)
- Mix all ingredients well
- Once ingredients are mixed, we will cook this mixture
- Place a non-stick pan on high flame
- Add 3 tablespoons of water
- Once the water starts sizzling, we know the pan is ready
- We will cook the mixture in it on low flame till it has become quite dry
- Once it cools down, stuff the karelas with the cooked mixture
- Then tie the karelas with a thread - Karelas are cooked with the thread and later removed before eating, the thread ensures the mixture stays in when cooking
- Now we will steam these
- Bring water to a boil in the steamer
- Place the karelas on the top rack of steamer (if you don't have a steamer at home you can bring a small amount of water to boil in a big container and place a smaller container inside it. Once the water starts boiling, you can place the karelas in the small container and cover the big container to steam)
- Steam the karelas for 25 minutes - 15 minutes on high and 10 minutes on low
- Place a pan (preferably non-stick) on high flame
- Add 1 tsp cooking oil
- Once the oil is hot, spread the oil on the pan
- Place 4 karelas on the pan, cover and cook on low flame (1 tsp oil is sufficient for 4 karelas)
- After cooking karelas for 5 mins, flip them
- Flip them every 2-3 minutes till they are a nice golden brown on the outside
Notes
Once the karelas cool post steaming, you can freeze them. When ready to eat - cook directly using 1 tsp oil to cook 4 karelas at a time.
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