Karela Curry

After a long break, I finally thought its time for me to post something. So here is one of my favorite karela recipes which I like to eat with plain white rice and also with curd rice. This is a very simple dish and I just cant get enough of it. I don't do anything to the karela like soaking it in salt/turmeric etc. for it to lose its bitterness. I fry(with 2 tsp of oil, which I use for tampering) it quite well and its not that bitter when cooked. If you dont like the bitterness, then you can try the same with the chinese karela which is not bitter at all.


Ingredients:

Karela : 4-5 Medium sized ones, cut into small pieces
Coconut : 6 tbsp
Fried Gram : 5 tblp
Red Chilly Powder : 1 tbsp
Salt : 1 tbsp or according to your taste
Tamarind paste : 1 tsp
Oil, Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal and Channa Dal for tampering

Method:

1. Put oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. After they sputter, add chana dal and urad dal. Once they turn brown, add the finely cut karela.

2. Cook the karela till it becomes soft. If you are in a hurry, you can add salt at this point to speed up the process.

3. Meanwhile, grind the fried gram, coconut, red chilly powder into a fine paste with water.

4. After the karela is done, add the ground paste, tamarind paste and the required amount of water. Once it comes to a boil, the curry is ready to eat. Don't forget to turn off the stove. :)


Variation: You can add curry leaves for grinding for a different taste.