Karela (Bitter Gourd)~Tomato Bhaji (Curry).

“Karela (Bitter Gourd)~Tomato Bhaji (Curry)” … Karelas are bitter to taste but very good for health … here is a spicy~delicious dish with the addition of karela and tomatoes that goes very well with roti / chapati / parathas / Dosa … Yummy ...

** Karela or Bitter Gourds are shunned by many people specially youngsters and children for its bitter taste. I am no exception to it, for the very reason that till a decade back I never much ate this except for the fries and kismuri. I loved karela’s only when they were fried and did not attempt much at preparing different types of dishes with this bitter truth / kadva sachayi. Yes that is what I always called it. But last for the last decade a few times I had to cook them when a relatively lovingly passed on loads of it to us. It was during that time that I tried different variations and somehow got hooked to it. Well, rest is history. It was much later that I realized both light green in color and darker shade of green color bitter gourd were available. While the lighter shade was less bitter the darker one was much more bitter, so now, whenever I find the lighter shaded one’s Its always on my priority list to purchase the same, though I do bring in the darker one’s too. 

** For a change this time I tried my own variation of Karela with tomatoes, though I have prepared similar one’s before this one is slightly different as I have added on chana dal / bengal gram dal to it while cooking which gives a crunch to munch on when having the vegetable. Mom always said that karela aggravates the pitta dosha in body ie the acidic level, in order to balance it one should add on a little bit of jaggery / gud and then the dish gets stabilized. Since I have had acidity problem, I always make it a point to add on a little bit of jaggery to it. It tastes great and goes very well actually with poories. Though we relished it with roti/chapati. As we all know the bitter gourds are good for health so do try this out and enjoy with your family and friends. 

** Here is the Method of preparing “Karela (Bitter Gourd)~Tomato Bhaji (Curry)” … My Style …. 

** Ingredients : 

Karela / Bitter Gourd / Karate’ : 4-5 or 300 gms. 

Tomatoes : 4-5 medium sized 

Onions / Kanda / Piyav / Pyaz : 3 large sized. 

Chana Dal / Bengal Gram Dal : 3 tblsp 

Urad Dal / Black Gram Dal : 1 tsp 

Methi / Fenugreek Seeds : ¼ tsp 

Mustard Seeds / Rai / Sasam : 1 tsp 

Curry Leaves / Kadipatta / Karbev : 10-12 

Sambar Powder : 3 tblsp 

Red Chilly Powder : 1 tblsp 

Haldi Powder : ½ tsp 

Hing / Asafoetida Powder : ¼ tsp 

Jaggery / Gud / Goda : ½ cup grated or powdered. 

Salt to taste 

Oil : 3 tblsp 

** Wash and wipe clean about 4-5 karelas / bitter gourds, say about 300 gms. Slice off the edges and cut them horizontally into thin slices / rings of about 1/3 inch thickness. Keep them ready aside. 

** Wash and cut bitter gourd into rings of 1/3 inch thickness and keep it aside. Do not scrape the nodes of the bitter gourd, they contain all the nutrients. 

** Note : You get both dark green and light green in color bitter gourds / karate’, you can use any. The light colored one’s are supposed to be less bitter in taste. For this particular recipe I have used light colored one’s as that was the one which was available in market for me. 

** Note : You can apply salt to the bitter gourd and keep it aside and then wash it again under running water. It is believed it remove some of the bitterness. I never follow this procedure, as I believe God creates everything in this world with some purpose behind it and man should try to have them as much close to as created. However, you can do the same if your wish. 

** Wash and cut the tomatoes into small pieces and keep them ready aside. 

** Peel of the skin and cut the onions into small pieces and keep them also ready aside. 

** Heat oil in a thick bottomed Kadai, when hot lower the heat and add in the urad dal and fry for a few seconds, when it is about to change in color add in chana dal and fry for a few minutes, now add in methi, mustard and curry leaves, when the mustard begin to crackle add in the onion pieces and fry till translucent. 

** Once the onion are done, add in the haldi powder, hing powder, sambar powder and red chilly powder and fry for a minute. Now add in the tomatoes and bitter gourd pieces along with 1 cup of water. When it come to a full boil, let it boil for 3-4 minutes, then lower the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes till almost the bitter gourds are cooked. 

** Now add in the jaggery and salt to taste and mix well. If need be then add in water after checking the consistency. This is a soft pulpy dish with only the bitter gourds intact, so keep that in mind while adding the water, remember the tomatoes too have enough water in them. 

** Continue cooking and let the curry simmer for another good 10 minutes. You will notice that the curry keeps getting darker in color and it simmers and gets thickened. Remove and keep it aside covered for at least one hour before serving it hot. 

** “Karela (Bitter Gourd)~Tomato Bhaji (Curry)” is done and ready to be served. You can serve it as a side dish with roti / chapati / poori or dosa. It tastes awesome and though slightly there is a touch of bitterness, it is desirable to relish it exactly that way for health benefits. I suggest you always use the karelas as they are without scrapping or applying salt and keeping it aside to remove bitterness. In time, you will love the taste as it is after all remember it is the bitter pill but healthy one at that for us. Enjoy this one with your family and friends. 

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