Bitter babies, but these gourds are a farmer’s delight

Madurai

: It may be bitter and small, but ask a vegetable farmer which among his wares is his favourite and chances are the answer will be “baby bitter gourd”. While the prices of most vegetables have plummeted in the market, the baby gourd has been ruling the roost and maintaining the high price tag for a while.

Pegged at Rs 70 a kilogram, baby bitter gourd fetches the highest price in the wholesale market as of now. This at a time when vegetable prices had been nosediving since January thanks to intermittent rain and abundant supply. In fact, leafy vegetables like cabbage had seen prices plunge to as low as Rs 5 a kilogram for the first time in the Madurai central market this year.

Traders say dwindling supply and high demand have been contributing to the high price rate of baby bitter gourd. President of Madurai Central Vegetable Market, P S Murugan, said that there was not much of supply this year. Baby bitter gourd was generally cultivated inside village water tanks but as water started receding after monsoon months the farmers cultivated it in the dried tank beds. “This year, the rains were very scanty in Madurai district and not much of baby bitter gourds could be raised. But they are always on high demand”, he said. The demand is also because it is a sought-after item for diabetic patients, he added.

M Durga Devi, assistant professor, Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT), Thanjavur said that baby bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) had antioxidant, anti-viral, anti-diabetic and anti-tumour properties. The bioactive components, charantin, vicine and polypeptide contributed to these properties. It had been proved by researchers that these bioactive components provided the medicinal properties to bitter gourd. “It is used as dietary supplement for diabetic and pre-diabetic patients and helps in boosting the immune system. Further, bitter gourd is rich in B vitamins and minerals”, she said.

INSET- FRY THEM

The method of deep-frying baby bitter gourd is usually followed in the countryside. After thoroughly rinsing them, the tail-end should be chopped off on both sides. After this, they can be fried in judicious volume of oil, preferably in an iron utensil. Salt has to be added at this stage and, after almost ten minutes of sautéing, chilly powder has to be added. This is sauteed again in low flame till the gourd is cooked. The deep-fried baby bitter gourd is a popular side dish. Cooking it in whole is said to be ideal. However, slicing it into half and adding shallots while sautéing is another method. Shallots make the dish taste even better.