Kakarakaya podi kura is a delicious side dish made with bitter melon. Fresh spice paste made with coriander, onions and coconut adds lot of flavor.
Kakarakaya aka bittergourd/ bitter melon/ karela as the name suggests has a bitter undertone. It has a cucumber/ melon like texture. It originated in India and is now widely used in most East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines.
I personally like bittergourd because of its taste and also because of its health benefits.
- It is packed with nutrients - Vitamin A and C, folate, potassium etc.
- It can help reduce blood sugar.
- Could reduce cholesterol levels
- May aid in weight loss
Dry curry with bitter gourd
The most popular way of cooking bitter melon in Andhra is to fry it in liberal amount of oil until nice and crispy. But being a little health conscious cook, I prefer to use only the required amount of oil and no more. So, I am always in the look out for healthier recipes with this veggie.
Today's recipe is from a cookbook, Vantalu Pindivantalu by Malathi Chandur. This book was first published way back in 1974, so there were no pictures and the recipes wre written with no measurements. Everything wa s written in terms of fistfulls and a little bit more.
So here's a recipe with the measurements I came up with. The curry ended up super tasty, do give it a try. I'm sure that the masala would taste great with other veggies too.
Ingredients
This recipe is made with just a few pantry ingredients:
- Fresh Bitter gourd/ bitter melon
- Chana dal (dried split peas)
- Coriander seeds
- Dry red chilies
- Onion
- Tamarind paste
- Dry grated coconut
Instructions
Make the Spice Paste:
- Heat oil in a small saute pan and fry chana dal, coriander seeds and red chilies.
- Cook until dal is lightly browned and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Remove into a bowl.
- To the same pan, add onions and fry until browned around the edges.
- Remove from the pan and let cool slightly.
- Take the chana dal mixture in a blender.
- Grind to a powder.
- Add tamarind paste.
- Add grated coconut and salt.
- Grind until smooth without adding water. Set aside.
10. Heat oil in a saute pan, add the chopped bittergourd.
11. Fry until it turns golden, about 8-10 minutes.
12. Add the ground masala paste, mix well and cook for 4-5 minutes on medium-low flame.
13. The spice paste will start of a little wet but once cooked on low flame, it will dry up and coat the veggie.
Tips to remove bitterness in Bitter gourd:
A lot of people love the bitter taste of bitter melon. But if you are not, then I have a couple of tricks to mellow down the bitterness:
- Boil or microwave chopped bittergourd with sour yogurt or tamarind paste and salt until the veggie is par-cooked. Let cool for a few minutes, then squeeze the pieces to remove some of the bitterness.
- Mix chopped raw pieces with salt and a pinch of turmeric. Set aside for as long as you can - at least 1~2 hours, up to overnight. Refrigerate if soaking for more than hours. Then squeeze the pieces.
Kakarakaya Podi Kura (Bittergourd Dry Curry)
Ingredients
For Spice Paste:
- 2 tsp Oil
- 1 tbsp Chana Dal (Senagapappu)
- 2 tsp Coriander seeds
- 3 - 4 Dry red chilies
- 1 Small Onion, chopped
- 2 tsp Tamarind paste
- 2 tbsp Dry grated Coconut
For the Curry:
- 6~8 Medium Bittergourd/ Kakarakaya, diced
- 1 tbsp Oil
- To taste Salt
Instructions
Make Masala/ Spice Paste:
- Heat oil in a small saute pan and fry chana dal, coriander seeds and red chilies until dal is lightly browned and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Remove into a bowl.
- To the same pan, add onions and fry until browned around the edges. Remove from the pan and let cool slightly.
- Grind the chana dal mixture until smooth. Add onions, tamarind paste, grated coconut and salt; grind until smooth without adding water. Set aside.
To make the Curry:
- [Optional] Prep the bittergourd if you want to remove the excess bitterness. See tips.
- Heat oil in a saute pan, add the chopped bittergourd and fry until it turns golden, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the ground masala paste, mix well and cook for 4-5 minutes on medium-low flame.
- The spice paste will start of a little wet but once cooked on low flame, it will dry up and coat the veggie.
Notes
- Boil or microwave chopped bittergourd with sour yogurt or tamarind paste and salt until the veggie is par-cooked. Let cool for a few minutes, then squeeze the pieces to remove some of the bitterness.
- Mix chopped raw pieces with salt and a pinch of turmeric. Set aside for as long as you can - at least 1~2 hours, up to overnight. Refrigerate if soaking for more than hours. Then squeeze the pieces.
How to Serve:
This dry curry is great to serve as a side dish to rice and dal. Here are a few dishes that would go great with this curry:
- Mamidikaya Pappu (Mango dal)
- Parippu | Kerala Style Dal
- Tangy Amti Dal
- Mixed Dal Sambar with Onion & Radish
Shailender Sharma
Kids don't like bitter gourd but it is my son's favourite and no need to remove the bitterness while cooking for him.
He will be glad to have one more recipe out of bitter gourd. Thank you for sharing.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
We all love bitter gourd in our house and I love this masala paste for the dry curry. I am going to try this recipe soon. And I like your quick video!
Sandhya Nadkarni
I also am a health conscious cook so appreciated your non- deep fried recipe, Pavani 🙂
I can imagine how fragrant that ground masala powder must be!
Great share!
Mayuri Patel
My hubby is a huge fan of bitter melon and I try to make it in different ways. Your recipe is definitely one that I will try. I'm slowly enjoying bitter melon now as I tend to remove the bitterness, but still can't have it as the only sabji, need some other sabji with it.
Lata Lala
Butter gourd dry curry looks delicious. I always make karela with coconut and cashews. Your style of butter gourd with tips and tricks is worth trying.
Swati
I love bitter gourd and this is surely another way which I will try soon. I never made Karela podi earlier, make only Subzi with it.. Podi looks so delicious and it's healthy too.
Geetha
Kakarakaya is the only veggie I used to hate until recently. Now I keep looking to prepare it in different ways so all my family enjoy it. This sounds like a healthy way and most importantly I loved the masala here. I'll surely try this the next time. Lovely share Pavani.
Lathiya
I started loving bitter gourd and cook at least once a week. This one looks amazing with coconut.
Jayashree T.Rao
Looks delicious, the bitterness will be hardly felt here. It will taste good with rice and sambar, yummy.
NARMADHA
I love bittergourd and this looks perfect for me. Looks absolutely scrumptious and tempting.
HobbyCooking
Turned out great!
Followed your recipe to the letter. Thank you!
Bhakthi Nagasuru
Simple recipe explained in detail. Thank you. I'm in my late 40s and today I suddenly remembered my mom's favorite cook book "Vantalu Pindi Vantalu" by Smt. Malathi Chandur !!
Ordered my copy from amazon!!
Love
Bhakthi
cookshideout
Hi Bhakthi, that is so good to hear. That is my go-to book for all Telugu/ Andhra dishes. Happy Cooking! Pavani