Karela sabzi, Bittergourd curry recipe

Karela or Bittergourd is a widely popular vegetable all over India. The main ingredient of this recipe is Karela. It is also known as “Ucchhe” in Bengali, “Kakarakaya” in South India, or simply “Bitter melon”.

As the name suggests, Bittergourd or Karela is bitter in taste. That’s the reason most people do not prefer this veggie in their food menu.

However, it should be included in your diet since it is known for its impressive health benefits.

The Bitter melon is a tropical and subtropical vine of the Cucurbitaceae family. It is native to South Asia but is now grown in many parts of the world.

A healthy diet chart is incomplete without Karela or Bittergourd. Karela is a very beneficial veggie for diabetic patients.

Besides, it comprises Vitamin B, Vitamin C and, is also rich in minerals like Iron, Calcium, and phosphorus. It also helps in preventing constipation.

Karela sabzi is a very simple and healthy dish. Also, it does not require many ingredients.

I try to include Karela in my diet once a week. Low in calories, 100 grams of Karela contains just 17 calories making it a great option for fitness enthusiasts.

Since this veggie or sabzi is not liked by everyone, you can try this recipe by over frying the Karela.

In this way, the bitterness of bitter gourd is removed to a great extent. Moreover, it makes the sabzi more crispy and tastier.

Although in my case, I like the bitterness of the sabzi and try to keep it as it is.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium-sized Karela or Bitter melon
• 2 tablespoon Mustard oil
• 1 large size Onion
• 1 medium-size Tomato (optional)
• Salt and Turmeric as per taste
• 1 Green chilly (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon dry roasted Cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Panch phoron
• 1 dry red chilly

How to prepare Karela sabzi?

1. Rinse and peel off the Karela very well.
2. Chop Karela into thin or small pieces in any pattern of your choice. Here I have kept it round- shaped. While chopping, remove all the seeds very carefully.
3. Chop the onion and tomatoes.
4. Heat mustard oil in a pan or kadhai. Temper the oil with panch phoron and dry red chilly.
5. Add chopped onions. Fry it until lightly golden. If in a hurry, you can add a pinch of sugar.
6. Mix chopped Karela with the onions. Saute for a minute.
7. If you want to add tomato, you can add at this point. I’ve not used tomatoes since it was not available in my kitchen when I was preparing this recipe.
8. Now add turmeric and salt as required. Mix all well.
9. Stir the mixture with a spatula very often so that the vegetables do not stick to the bottom of the pan.
10. Try to cook the sabzi by covering the pan. This way the sabzi would be cooked in less time.
11. Let it cook for 10-12 minutes on low flame.
12. Sprinkle dry roasted cumin powder. Give it a nice mix.
13. Cook for another 1 minute.
14. When the sabzi is ready, turn off the flame. Serve it with rice along with dal or rotis.