5 delicious recipes made using bitter gourd

Bitter gourd or commonly known as Karela in India, it is one of the underrated vegetables across the world owing to its sharp bitterness. This vegetable is also widely known as bitter melon as it belongs to the gourd family that includes cucumber, squash, pumpkin, and zucchini. It’s found in abundance in India and ranks very low on the popularity chart. However, bitter it might be, karela or bitter gourd is known to be quite beneficial for lowering cholesterol levels and improving blood sugar levels. Due to its bitterness, many people don’t enjoy making this vegetable at home. However, with these delicious recipes, you will forget the bitterness of this vegetable and make it again and again at home. So, what are you wondering? Go for these amazing 5 bitter gourd recipes…

To prepare this sweet and sour recipe, wash and deseed 4 bitter gourds. Cut them in round slices and apply 2-3 tbsp of salt. Toss well to coat all the pieces. This is done to remove the bitterness of a bitter gourd. Keep aside for about 2-3 hours and then wash and dry the karela. If you want to cook instantly, then you must start the preparation a night before. Now, make the tempering by sautéing 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 2 tbsp of curry leaves and 3-4 green chillies in a little oil. Once done, add 1 tbsp each of ginger-garlic paste along with 1 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric and 1 tbsp of raw mango powder. Mix well all the masala and then add a little water. Mix well all the ingredients and then add dried karela in the pan. Add 2 tbsp tamarind paste along with salt to taste and mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes, and then add 2 tbsp jaggery powder in it. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes. Then turn off the flame and enjoy!

This is another interesting recipe that you can easily make at home. In order to make it, follow the same method used in khatta meetha karela. Wash, scrape and cut in round slices. Rub salt all over and keep aside for some time. Now, take a pan and heat 4-6 tbsp of vegetable oil. Add bitter gourd in it and shallow fry. Once fried, put it over the paper towel to soak the extra oil. Now, heat some oil in a pan and fry 1 onion and tomato in it. Then, add coriander powder, turmeric, garam masala powder, salt and a little red chilli powder in it. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Finally, take a bowl and beat 1/2 cup curd in it. Add to the pan along with fried karela and mix well. Cook for about 10 minutes with covered lid. Once done, enjoy with chapati or paratha.

For making these chips, wash and dry 250 grams of karela. Then, cut it into round chips and deseed them. Soak these pieces in the water mixed with salt for at least 5 minutes, so that its bitterness is reduced. Strain the pieces and wash them with clean water once. Next, add ½ tsp cumin powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp coriander powder and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Mix well and add bitter gourd pieces into it. Mix well to coat them and keep covered with a lid for 5 minutes. In another plate or bowl, mix 50 grams each of rice flour and cornflour together. After the flour mixture is mixed well, add bitter gourd pieces into it as per requirement. Mix well so that chips are coated with flour from all sides. In a kadhai, heat 1 cup oil on medium flame. When the oil is hot enough, fry these bitter gourd chips till golden brown and crunchy. Enjoy as a side dish or with tea.

It’s a popular South Indian side dish that can be made in just half an hour. All you need is 3-4 large bitter gourds and cut them into thick slices and deseed them. Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt over these slices, mix well and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. After this, rinse the pieces in cold water. Now, put a kadhai over medium flame and heat 1-2 tbsp of mustard oil in it. Once the oil is hot enough, add 1 tsp chana dal 1 tsp urad dal, 1 tsp mustard seeds, a few curry leaves, 2 pinches of asafoetida and 2 dried red chillies in the pan. Saute for a minute and then add the dried bitter gourd in the pan. Mix well and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Cover with a lid and cook the bitter gourd for 5-7 minutes. Next, add 1-2 tsp of tamarind juice along with 2 tsp of jaggery and ½ tsp of turmeric along with salt to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes. Garnish with grated or shredded coconut and enjoy with chapati.

This is another delicious dish that you can make with bitter gourd. To make this recipe, you can use potato, paneer, processed cheese or even bitter gourd peels as a stuffing. Here is the recipe of Cheese Stuffed Bitter Gourd for which you need not do much hard work. Put a large pan with 2 cups of water in it with ½ tsp turmeric and a little salt. Mix well and bring it to a boil. Wash 3-4 bitter gourds and cut them into half. Boil them for 5-7 minutes and once done, drain the water. Let the karela cool down and then deseed them. Meanwhile, make the filling by mixing cottage cheese and processed cheese with a little red chilli powder, salt, turmeric, chaat masala powder, garam masala powder and some dry mango powder. When the karela is cooled, take 1-2 tsp of this mixture and fill them with this mixture. Fill all the karelas with this mixture evenly and keep aside. Now, put a frying pan on medium flame and heat a little oil. When the oil is hot enough, fry the stuffed karelas until brown in colour. Serve hot.