Karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce

It was curry week, day #5 at My Dhaba. Lera of Myriad tastes was so kind in sending us her spicy fish curry to be included in our today's curry post. Here is Lera's spicy fish curry recipe and picture details. Thank you Lera for this post. Excellent blend of spices! We could feel its taste just by looking at its picture.

At My Dhaba, we have cooked karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce today.

We were remembering our childhood days today. The trio master home chefs at home, my grandma, mother, and sister used to put in their best culinary skills whenever they used to cook karela dishes at home to make it more tastier and delicious. It is now a delight to think, talk, write, and share the knowledge we had gained from those brilliant home chefs specialized in traditional Indian home cooking. They never used to refer to any cookbooks and had followed the best traditional wisdom handed over by generations and possible trial-and-error methods while cooking. Everything that you read here at My Dhaba is the traditional knowledge of those kitchen queens chronicled and manuscripted by my sister (late) Prabhavathy and me. Hope you are enjoying these journeys through traditional Indian home cooking.

Here is the recipe for My Dhaba's favorite karela curry.


Karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce
Serves - 4
Preparation time - 45 minutes

Ingredients:
Bitter gourd - 3 cups, fresh, deseeded, cut into thin rounds
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Tamarind - a lemon-sized lump
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Cummin seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Coconut - half of a fresh coconut, scrapings
Onion - 2, medium size, chopped
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 sprig, fresh
Salt - 1/2+1/2 teaspoon
Jaggery - 2 tablespoon, powdered

Method: Smear the turmeric powder and salt all over the karela rounds, keep aside for half an hour, and wash well in water. Add 3 cupfuls of water to a lemon-sized lump of tamarind and extract the juice. Bring this tamarind juice to the boil and add the washed bitter gourd rounds to it. Let it boil for 15 minutes, strain, and keep both karela rounds and boiled water separately. Grind the coconut and onions to a smooth paste. Heat a flat-bottomed vessel and pour in the oil. When smoking hot, add the mustard seeds to splutter, the remaining chopped onions, and curry leaves. When the onions turn limp, add the boiled karela and saute well for a minute. Pour in the coconut+onion paste and all other spice powders. Saute well for a minute. Now add the boiled tamarind water and salt. Adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding more water (1-2 cups) and boil for 10 minutes. Add the jaggery powder and simmer further till the sauce reaches a semi-thick honey-like consistency and the oil shines on the surface. Enjoy with plain boiled rice.

Indian curries discussed so far during My Dhaba's curry week ...
Day #1 - Moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce.
Day #2 - Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.
Day #3 - Mixed vegetables sambhar.
Day #4 - Aloo gobi curry aka cauliflower and potato curried sauce

Read more details about My Dhaba's curry week here. We look forward to your participation. As always, your feedbacks are our inspiration. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce