Hagalakayi Palya (Bitter Gourd Stir Fry - Karnataka style)

 

           Hagalakayi Palya is a traditional bitter gourd recipe from the state of Karnataka. This simple side dish is just amazing and so easy to prepare. It is a great accompaniment to curd rice. However, you can also relish with steamed rice or chapatti. So check out the step by step pictorial recipe top prepare this regional stir fry recipe. 

           Bitter Gourd in general is a very healthy veggie and is also diabetic friendly as it regulates the blood sugar levels. However, it is not too popular because of its bitterness. I assure you this Hagalakayi Palya will be liked by many as there is no bitterness after the marination.

• 2 medium size bottle gourd, deseeded & sliced
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 dry red chili
• 1 tsp. urad dal (Split black lentil)
• 2 green chilies, slit
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 tsp. salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. amchur (dry mango powder)
• 1 tsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 tsp. sambar powder
• 1/3 cup fresh grated coconut
• 1 tbsp. coriander leaves, chopped

          Marinate the bitter gourd with some salt for 10-15 minutes. Wash well, rinse and squeeze out all excess water. Keep aside. 

          Heat oil in a pan. Temper with dry red chili, mustard seeds, urad dal, slit green chilies and curry leaves. Sauté for a few seconds. 

          Add the bitter gourd, salt to taste and turmeric powder. Sauté on a low to medium flame till tender. 

          Now add the chopped onion and continue to stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

          Then add the amchur powder, sambar powder and red chili powder. Sauté further for a minute.

           Add the fresh grated coconut and give it a stir. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice, curd rice or chapatti. 

                        Marinate the bitter gourd with some salt for 10-15 minutes. Wash well,

                        rinse and squeeze out all excess water. Keep aside. 

                        Heat oil & temper with dry red chili, mustard seeds, urad dal, slit green

                        chilies and curry leaves. Sauté for a few seconds. 

                    Add the bitter gourd, salt to taste & turmeric powder. Sauté on a low to 

                    medium flame till tender. 

                           Now add the chopped onion & continue to stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

                       Add amchur, sambar powder & red chili powder. Sauté for a minute.

                       Add fresh grated coconut & give it a stir. Garnish with coriander leaves.

                                  Serve with steamed rice, curd rice or chapatti. 

Pavakkai Paruppu Usili (Bitter Gourd Stir Fry - South Indian style)

 

           Pavakkai Paruppu Usili is a traditional South Indian (Tamil Brahmin) recipe where bitter gourd is cooked with lentil. This is a simple side dish. I must say we at home really enjoyed this amazing concoction with chapati. It is also a great accompaniment to curd-rice, sambar-rice or dal-chawal. 

          You can prepare Usili with any other veggies of your choice by following the same method. They turn out real amazing. So check out the step by step pictorial recipe to prepare this healthy and yummy regional recipe. 

• 2 medium size bitter gourd, sliced
• 1/3 cup tuvar dal (pigeon pea lentil), soaked for an hour
• 3 dry red chilies
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. urad dal (split black gram lentil)
• 1/4 tsp. asafoetida
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 garlic, chopped
• 1-2 green chilies, chopped
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder or as needed
• 1 tsp. Kashmiri red chili (opt)
• 2 tbsp. fresh grated coconut 
• 1-2 tbsp. coriander leaves, chopped 
• 1 tsp. lime juice

           Grind the soaked lentil, red chilies, cumin seeds, a pinch of turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp. salt into a coarse paste without adding any water. 

          Transfer the batter into a greased steel plate and steam for 15 minutes. Set aside to dry and then crumble it with your hands till it resembles bread crumbs. Keep aside. 

          Marinate the  bitter gourd with some salt and turmeric powder for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse well and squeeze out all the water. 

          Heat oil in a pan and sauté the marinated bitter gourd along with salt to taste and turmeric powder till they are well done and tender. Keep aside. 

         Heat remaining oil and temper with mustard seeds, asafoetida and urad dal. Allow it to splutter.

          Then add onion, garlic, green chilies and curry leaves. Sauté for a few seconds. Add the crumbled lentil and red chili powder. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

           Add the fried bitter gourd and fresh grated coconut. Mix well and sauté for 1-2 minutes more.

           When done, add the chopped coriander leaves and lime juice. Give it a toss and serve as a side dish with curd rice, sambar rice or chapattis.

                        Grind the soaked lentil, red chilies, cumin seeds, a pinch of turmeric 

                        powder and 1/4 tsp. salt into a coarse paste without adding any water. 

                        Transfer the batter into a greased steel plate & steam for 15 minutes. 

                      Set aside to dry. Then crumble till it resembles bread crumbs. Keep aside. 

                       Marinate the bitter gourd with some salt & turmeric powder for 10-15 

                        minutes. Then rinse well and squeeze out all the water. 

                     Heat oil & sauté the marinated bitter gourd along with salt to taste and

                     turmeric powder till they are well done and tender. Keep aside. 

                              Heat remaining oil & temper with mustard seeds, asafoetida &

                              urad dal. Allow it to splutter.

                       Add onion, garlic, green chilies & curry leaves. Sauté for a few seconds.

                      Add the crumbled lentil and red chili powder. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

                   Add the fried bitter gourd & coconut. Mix well & sauté for 1-2 minutes.

                               When done, add the chopped coriander leaves and lime juice.

                                Serve as a side dish with curd rice, sambar rice or chapattis.

Tetor Dal (Karela / Bittergourd Dal / Lentil - Bong Style)

 

               This is a traditional homemade style Bengali delicacy, where fried moong dal (green gram lentil) and raw papaya are cooked with fried bitter gourd slices. Having any bitter preparation at the beginning of any meal is generally considered to cleanse the system. Raw papaya can also be substituted with bottle gourd. 

                Tetor dal is a very common recipe cooked in most of the Bengali household. All bitter melon lovers will definitely relish this dal. Just enjoy it with hot steamed rice. There are many versions to this dal, where it differs slightly from one individual to the other. So check out the step by step pictorial recipe to prepare this very Bong style classic dish.

• 1/2 cup moong dal (split yellow / green gram )
• 1/2 of a small raw papaya, cubed
• 1 small bitter gourd, sliced
• 2-3 tbsp. mustard oil
• 2 whole dry red chilies
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. panch phoron (equal quantity of fennel, mustard, cumin, fenugreek and nigella (kalonji) seeds)
• 1 tsp. ginger, finely chopped
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder 
• 2 green chilies, slit
• 1 tsp. ghee 
• 1/4 tsp. roasted coriander-cumin powder

          Dry roast the moong dal till light brown. Soak in water for 15-20 minutes. Pressure cook along with the papaya cubes & a pinch of salt in 1 & 1/2 cups water for 4-5 whistles. Open the lid after it cools down.

          Heat oil in a pan / kadai and temper with red chilies, bay leaves and panch phoron. After it stops spluttering, add the ginger and sauté for a few seconds.

          Now add the bitter gourd, a pinch of salt and turmeric powder. Sauté till light brown. Add the boiled dal, salt to taste, green chilies and 1/2 cup water. (Adjust the consistency accordingly).

          Bring it to a boil and simmer on low flame for 2-3 minutes. Add ghee and mix well.  Garnish with roasted coriander-cumin powder and serve hot with steamed rice.

                      Pressure cook the soaked moong dal with papaya cubes & a pinch of 

                      turmeric powder in 1 & 1/2 cups water for 4-5 whistles. 

                            Heat oil & temper with red chilies, bay leaves and panch phoron.

                        After it stops spluttering, add the ginger & sauté for a few seconds.

                                  Add bitter gourd, a pinch of salt & turmeric powder. 

                                 Sauté till light brown.

                         Add the boiled dal, salt to taste, green chilies & 1/2 cup water. Bring it

                         to a boil & simmer on low flame for 2-3 minutes. 

                                  Add ghee and mix well.  

                                 Garnish with roasted coriander-cumin powder.

                                  Serve hot with steamed rice.

Bitter Gourd (Karela) Chutney

          All Bitter Gourd lovers will simply love this amazing chutney. It was my first try and I really fell in love with this side dish. A very easy recipe, it simply tastes yummy with hot steamed rice and a drizzle of some extra ghee. It is lip smacking with all the flavours in it - spicy, tangy, sweet and a slight hint of bitterness. You may also relish it with chapati, curd rice, idli or dosa. It is definitely a must try recipe.

• 4 long bitter gourd, seeds discarded & sliced
• 8-10 dry red chilies 
• 1 tbsp. whole coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp. sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp. split black gram (urad dal)
• 1/4 tsp. asafoetida
• 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1-2 tsp. tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp. jaggery / sugar to taste
• 2 tbsp. ghee
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds 
• 1-2 sprigs curry leaves

          Add some salt and turmeric powder to the sliced bitter gourd and leave aside for 30 minutes. Then rinse well and squeeze properly. 

          Heat 1 tbsp. oil and fry the bitter gourd, turmeric powder and salt to taste on a low flame till golden brown in colour. Keep aside to cool.

          Heat remaining oil and fry the other ingredients starting from - dry red chilies to black gram. Keep aside to cool.

          Dry roast the coconut till golden in colour and set aside to cool.

          Grind into a paste all the stir fried ingredients along with tamarind, jaggery, salt to taste and required quantity of water.

         Heat ghee in a pan and temper with mustard seeds. After it stops spluttering, add the curry leaves and asafoetida. 

          Sauté for a few seconds and switch off the flame. Pour this tempering over the chutney and relish with plain steamed rice or chapatti. 

Batter Fried Stuffed Bitter Gourd

            If you are a Karela / Bitter Gourd lover, then you will definitely relish this dish. These yummy batter fried stuffed karelas are best had as a side dish with either rice or chapattis. If you are a bit of an adventurous type, have them as appetizers with any chutney. 

           If you can get hold of the smaller variety, that would be absolutely perfect for this recipe. So go ahead and give it a try by checking out the step by step pictorial recipe to prepare it and enjoy them as per your choice.

• 2 long Bitter Gourd / 4-5 small ones
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp. fresh grated coconut
• 1 tsp. roasted coriander powder
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 tbsp. flax seed (opt)
• 1 tsp. tamarind paste
• 2 tbsp. roasted chickpea flour
• 1/2 cup besan (gram flour)
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder
• oil to deep fry

          Scrape the karelas / bitter gourds and scoop out the pulp. Cut each into 3-4 pieces. Apply salt to them and to the scraped mix and leave them aside for 20-25 minutes. 

          Make a batter with besan, turmeric powder, pinch of salt and red chili powder with required quantity of water. The batter should not be too thick or too thin. Keep aside.

          Wash the scraped mix well under running water and transfer onto a kitchen towel. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a pan and sauté the garlic till they slightly changes colour. 

          Now add the coconut and sauté till light brown. Then add the scraped karela skin and the pulp along with all the dry spices. Continue to fry on a medium flame for 4-5 minutes.

          Add the tamarind paste. Mix well and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Switch off the flame and add the roasted chickpea flour. Toss well, cover and keep aside to cool down.

          Fill each of the karela pieces with the stuffing and keep aside. Heat remaining oil for deep frying. Take the stuffed karela and coat them in the batter and gently drop them in the hot oil.

          Deep fry them in batches on a medium flame till golden in colour on all sides. Drain on a kitchen towel. 

          Serve as a side dish with either rice / chapatti or as appetizers with any chutney.

                    Scrape karelas & scoop out the pulp. Cut each into 3-4 pieces. Apply salt 
                    to them & to the scraped mix & leave aside for 20-25 minutes. Wash them 
                    well under running water & transfer onto a kitchen towel. 

                 Heat 2 tbsp. oil & sauté garlic till it changes colour. Add coconut & sauté till 
                 light brown. Add scraped karela peel & pulp & all dry spices. Fry on med. 
                 flame for 4-5 min. Add tamarind paste. Mix well & sauté for 2-3 min. Switch
                 off flame & add roasted chickpea flour. Toss well, cover & keep aside to cool.

                                  Fill each karela pieces with the stuffing & keep aside. 

                 Make a batter with besan, turmeric powder, pinch of salt & red chili powder
                 with some water. The batter should not be too thick or too thin. 

                    Heat remaining oil. Take the stuffed karela & coat them in the batter &
                    drop in hot oil. Deep fry on med. flame till golden in colour on all sides. 

                                 Drain on a kitchen towel.

                    Serve them hot as a tea-time snack or as a side dish with either rice or
                    chapati......

                           ......or cut them in slices & serve as appetizers with any chutney.