I don’t need anyone to tell me that I am not a big fan of bitter gourd(karela), I’d say so myself. I must have had the bitter gourd about 5 times in the past 10 years..Or may be even less than that. Though there are people in my family who can set a perfect example by savoring it, say my 4 year old nephew A, who loves pagaikai pitla, I always run away from the vegetable.

Luckily for me, N is not a big fan of Bitter gourd either(partner’s in crime huh!!) and we never buy the vegetable from Indian grocery shops. Last year, when we started a vegetable garden, we decided to plant karela as well, only to be rewarded by a dozen gourds every week

I have tried almost all the methods suggested to take the bitterness away:
- Soaking bittergourd in butter milk the night before cooking it
- Soaking bittergourd in tamarind water and turmeric before cooking it
-Soaking it in the water which was used to wash rice
-Adding jaggery
-Cutting thin slices of karela and making bajjis
-Immersing one karela in a pan full of onion-tomato masala, calling it healthy (I end up eating one gourd nah?)
and so on and so forth.

Then one fine day, I saw this recipe from Indira and I tried it. This is so far the best way to take away the bitterness from the gourd. Believe it or not, when you finish cooking the karela this way, you can taste only 5% of the original bitterness. And no, you don’t need to fry it, soak it in masala or anything.

Indira’s recipe is for stuffed bitter gourds, but I modified the recipe so that I use the dal powder as a stir fry powder. Try this anyway you like it and you will keep making it again and again.

Ingredients:

For 4 Bitter gourds:

For the dal powder:
Chana dal- 5 tbsp (or use chutney kadalai- dalia, like in the original recipe)
Coconut- 5 tbsp
Dried red chilies- 4
Cumin- 1/4 tsp
Salt- to taste

Oil- to stir fry
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Method:

Preparing the bitter gourd:
Wash the bitter gourd and using a peeler, peel the harsh surface of the gourd.

Run the knife through the gourd lengthwise, but do not cut it in to two. Scoop out the seeds.

In a microwave safe bowl, add the bitter gourd, a dash of salt, enough water to steam(about 4-5 tbsp) and steam the gourd for 2-3 minutes.

Remove the gourd from the bowl, chop them like rings. Let it cool.

Dal powder:
Toast all ingredients given under the dal powder section and blend them to a fine powder.

Making the stir fry:

Heat oil in a pan, add any tempering(mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves) and add the chopped bitter gourd. Add salt to taste, stir fry for 2-3 minutes, add the dal powder, stir fry again, sprinkle some water for the gourd to cook through. Since it is already steamed, the gourd cooks faster and you do not need more oil or water.

Serve hot with any main dish like sambar or rasam.

Note:

I chopped the bitter gourd after steaming, but you can use it as a whole for stuffing after the steaming. Use either the dal powder, potatoes or any masala you like. And you won’t notice the bitterness at all! Steaming is the Key I guess. Thanks Indira, for this wonderful trick!

This Stir fried no bitter-better gourd goes to Priya’s Bookmarked recipes event.

Looking at the picture without the title, you’d think it is some kinda soup right? But it is the simplest and flavorful- spicy-tangy sauce called arachu kalakki, usually made to go with molagootal in pakalad families. It’s super simple, arachu means grind, kalakki means mix..and that’s it!

Now since I grew up in Tamilnadu, my mom makes something similar with mango called azugina manga pachadi (almost rotten mango pickle chutney), the speciality of the recipe is the really ripe and soft mangoes in mango pickle(mavadu), mixed with chilies and yogurt which makes a wonderful side dish from lemon rice to adais.

There is not much of a difference between arachu kalakki and the mango pachadi my mom makes. Only thing is that arachu kalakki may or may not need mangoes(depends on your taste) while the main ingredient in pachadi is mango from the pickled mavadus. You gotta use only mavadu pickle, not avakkai mango pickle.

Looking for something that you can make out of nothing? Then this is your chutney/sauce. Pair it with milagootal, kootu, coconut rice, lemon rice or even as a raitha.

Let’s start the clock and look and the ingredients shall we?

Ingredients:

Medium size mango from mavadu pickle(very soft and ripe mango) – 1-2 pieces (you can leave it out using plain yogurt)
Red chilies- 4
Ginger- 1/2″ piece
Coconut- 4 tbsp
Sour yogurt- 1 cup
Tamarind paste- a dash, less than 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

The first minute mark:
Chop the mango pickle in to two, add red chilies, salt, ginger,tamarind paste, coconut to the blender. Make a coarse paste.

Second minute:
Add half the yogurt, blend the ingredients to a thick, smooth paste, add the rest of the yogurt and beat well.

Third minute:
Transfer to a bowl..Hah! See you don’t even need 5 minutes!

Tempering is optional, you can use cumin or mustard seeds and curry leaves. But this tastes good on its own.

Note:

If the yogurt is really sour, you do not need the tamarind paste. Have a taste and alter the recipe according to your taste, make it more tangy or spicy or with more coconut or more yogurt. This almost tastes like the gravy of aviyal, but without adding vegetables or even cooking it!

If you do not have mango pickle(vadu mango), use peeled and cubed mango slices(1 or 2). Check the salt, as pickled mangoes already have salt in them.

Since this sauce is made with leftover yogurt/pickle, this is my entry for PJ’s Scrumptious delights from Left over’s event.

I had reserved drumsticks only for Sambars/Vathakozhambus, Poricha kootus, Aviyal and BiseBela Bath. I mean, look at the vegetable, you cannot make a gravy with it, you cannot stuff it or fry it, cant add it to chinese dishes or pastas…So pretty much my mind had set aside drumstick for those 4-5 dishes, that’s all. Nothing exciting about it..or so I thought till I saw this stir fry at Indo’s. It was on my list for a long time and finally when I was craving for some spicy- tangy food, I couldn’t resist and made it.

Needless to say, it was a new dish that I have added to my list of “make more often” and it is so simple to put together. I made it like a stir fry but you can lightly thin it out and even use it like some sort of thogayal to mix with rice. The aroma of this stir fry is heavenly!

Ingredients:

Drumsticks (I used frozen)- 1 cup
Shallots- Finely chopped about 1/4 cup
Tomato- 1- Finely chopped
Garlic- a good 2-3 cloves
Sambar powder- 1 tsp
Salt- to taste
Turmeric powder- a pinch or so
Asafoetida- 1 pinch
Oil- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Water- 1/2 cup

Method:

Heat a oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and asafoetida, when the seeds splutter, add the finely chopped garlic and shallots. Stir fry well, adding salt.

Once they look translucent, add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, sambar powder and mix them in. Then add the drumsticks, mix well again, add the water, cover and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes (since I used frozen)
or till the water evaporates and drumsticks are cooked through.

Serve hot with either paruppu podi(dal powder), ghee and rice. We had it with some pappad vathakozhambu, cucumber-tomato salad and rice.

This stir fry goes to Vegetable Marathon-Drumstick event, hosted here and started at anita’s kitchen.

Naturally, all of us at home love using potatoes to make a side dish for rasam or sambhar as well as to make gravies like kadappa or aloo kari patta. But the favorite at home is the simple aloo kari (stir fry) that goes well with everything. I try different types of potato kari apart from the usual podimas style stir fries.

Couple of weeks ago, I saw this recipe at Rak’s Kitchen, and she had made an eggplant stir fry with fresh onion-coconut paste. I tried it with eggplants the first time and the taste was so good that I have been using the masala paste to make potato stir fry, plantain stir fry and even added it to beets. Do give it a try, the stir fry is flavorful and spices can be adjusted too.

Ingredients(Serves-2)

Potato- Yellow potatoes, medium size- 8 each
Chopped onions- 1/4 cup
Sambar powder- 1 tsp (or use a combination of red chili powder and coriander seed powder)
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt- to taste

To blend to a smooth paste:
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Pearl onions -6 each
Coconut- 1/4 cup

For tempering:
Oil- 1 tsp
Red chilies- 3
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida- 1 pinch
Curry leaves- few sprigs
Coriander leaves- to garnish

Method:

Wash and peel the skin of potatoes. Chop them into 1″ cubes.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add asafoetida, cumin seeds, curry leaves and red chilies. Then add the chopped onions, salt, turmeric powder and stir fry well. Add the potatoes, sambhar powder and toss well to coat.

Adjust the flame to a low-medium, cover the pan and let the potatoes cook.

In the mean time, blend the pearl onions, cumin seeds and coconut to a smooth paste, adding around 1/4 cup of water to the paste.

Once the potatoes are half cooked, add this coconut paste to the pan with potatoes, and mix them well. Let the masala and potatoes cook together till the potatoes turn to a dry curry.

Serve the potato stir fry with rice or with rotis.