Bitter Gourd Sabji – Pavakkai Sabji – Karela Sabzi

This recipe is about Bitter Gourd Sabji. I can hear a lot of people say ” I hate this veggie” , but wait I have a few tips to get rid of the bitterness. I have never said NO to bitter gourd, provided Amma makes it. This is exactly how she makes it. It might look like a long process, but once u have chopped the veggie, u can make it very quickly. This goes well with chapathi and rice too.

Now to the recipe.

Bitter Gourd Sabji Ingredients:

• Bitter Gourd – 1/4 kg (say about 3)
• Onions – 3
• Tomatoes – 2
• Fennel Seeds (Sombu) – 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
• Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
• Salt as needed
• Oil to shallow fry

Method:

• Firstly peel the skin with a peeler, wash and slice it thinly. Secondly take off the seeds. Add salt and keep it aside for 15 – 20 mins. Squeeze it and keep it ready to shallow fry. U can taste the squeezed water to see how bitter it is 🙂

•  Dry roast fennel seeds and crush it coarsely while it is still warm. Meanwhile, heat oil and shallow fry the squeezed bitter gourd slices and keep it aside.

• In the same oil (U can reduce the oil if its too much) add onions and saute till transparent. Next add tomatoes followed by salt, chilli powder & coriander powder. Once the tomatoes become mushy and oil oozes it add fennel seeds powder and stir.

• Finally add the shallow fried bitter gourd and mix until they combine well with the masala.

Bitter Gourd Sabji is ready!!

Serve hot with roti or rice!!

Tips:

1. Onions and fennel seeds give a sweet taste to the recipe. So dont reduce the amount of onions.
2. U can even temper the fennel seeds instead of crushing it.
3. If u still feel its bitter, u can add 1tsp of sugar finally.

Goodness of Bitter Gourd:

1. This low calorie veggie helps in relieving indigestion and at the same time it can kill worms in our stomach.

– By Sundari Nathan