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
Usha Rao
Bookmarking the recipe. Will try it v soon.
preeti garg
Yummy And delicious
Priya Suresh
Seriously even i got the famous meenatchi ammal cookbook from a old store too, a real treasure. Dry curry looks fabulous, i can have it happily with some curd rice.
Manjula Bharath
wow bitter gourd dry curry looks so delicious dear 🙂 love the addition of coconut in it 🙂
Janani
I never make any dish with bittergourd but this makes me think to try it out nice one.
Global Tastes & Travels Inc.
Bitter gourd is another veggie I don;t like but my Mom loves it – will def try this one for her
Global Tastes & Travels Inc.
Bitter gourd is another veggie I don;t like but my Mom loves it – will def try this one for her
Sandhya Karandikar
One more wonderful Bitter Gourd recipe for me to try. Your bowls and mats is very beautiful too.
PJ
I love to collect such age old recipe books even though there are no pics. It is indeed a treasure na! And your curry looks yum and you know what a bittergourd lover will do right!!
Sapana Behl
Bitter gourd is my fav , will try this curry ! Lovely presentation !!
Gayathri's Cook Spot
The old book shops are the best places to search for cookbooks. The curry looks divine…
Srivalli
Looks amazing pavani…my husband and mil love this vegetable..will surely make for them…getting such gem of a book is a real treasure right..wonder if these books are still in publication..
Harini-Jaya Rupanagudi
Good one, Pavani..
Nivedhanams Sowmya
curry is looking super delicious!!Sowmya
Hari Chandana P
Aahaa.. chala bagundi.. yummy 🙂
Sreevalli E
Wow.. Yummy.. One of my favorite dishes.. My mom makes it the same way & I love it..
veena krishnakumar
I am somehow reluctant to try any bittergourd dish…Think i would start with this…looks very nice
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
I love bitter gourd and this sounds delicious!
Archana Potdar
I love bitter gourds and thisone is what I loved .So much that the lone bitter gourd is getting some special treatment tomorrow.
michael villena
Nice article to read here. Please do visit this site related to your topic. Thanks (o’_’o)http://shitifujon.blogspot.com/2013/09/wild-bitter-gourd-in-kalinga.html