The very moment I listen to Bitter gourd curry @ home Yukkkk!!! I never used to put it into my mouth b'coz of its horrible bitterness. My mom used to try different different tricks to reduce the bitterness completely and one worked out finally and I ate it literally by licking my fingers. It was that tasty. I want to share that dish with ya'll. Try it out and feel good.
Ingredients:Bitter gourd-6 pieces in you preffer the long ones, 10 pieces if short, there will be short ones in it as well in which the bitterness will be lil less than the long ones, but this is very rare in the market.
Besan-12 Tspn
Onion-1
Fresh Ginger & Garlic Pieces-3 Tspn
Red Mirchi Powder-as required
Salt-as required
Corriander powder-1/2Tspn
Turmeric Powder-a pinch
Oil-8Tspn
Procedure:1. Remove the peal of the Bitterguard. Wash the peeled part and save this peeled part for further use.
2. Cut the Bitterguard in 2-3 horizantal pieces.
3. With a knife or a fork try to remove all the seeds from the horizantally cut Bitterguard pieces. This might take a while, but if you want no bitterness at all you have to remove the seeds inside, if you preffer lil bitterness you can keep some of the seeds in it.
4. Add salt all over the pieces and rub the salt agaist the pieces on the Bitterguard skin as well as the inside part.
5. Keep it aside for some time and carry on with rest of the method.
6. Take 4 Tspns oil in a deep bottom pan and let it heat, keep the flame LOW.
7. Add Ginger & Garlic pieces, add finely chopped onion pieces, let the onions turn brown, add Besan and fry till it changes its colour and till you get a fragrant smell from the Besan. Add Salt, Red Mirchi Powder and Corriander powder and fry for a while again. Finally add the peeled part of the Bitterguard in step1.
8. You can taste this stuff and add salt and any spices if needed.
9. Let the stuffing cool down. In the mean time you wash the Bittergourd pieces make sure there isint any salt in it.
10. Mix the stuffing with you hand well.
11. Hold a piece of Bittergourd in you palm vertically, take some stuffing and try to stuff as much as you can into the Bittergourd properly. You can take help of oil or water to stuff it into the Bittergourd i.e., you can mix lil oil/water to the stuffing and then stuff it into the Bittergourd. I did not do this way, I directly stuffed the stuffing into Bittergourd.
12. Take 4Tspn oil in a wide bottom pan and let it heat. Keep the flame in low.
13. Add these stuffed pieces into the pan and keep a lid on it and let it cook. This might take 30 mins. Keep on checking inbetween, this prevents the bittergourd from burning. You can sprinkle lil water on the pieces and let it cook.
14. Remove when they are soft. You will know it by inserting a fork or knife inside the piece.
15. Add these pieces to the remaining stuffing present and garnish with corriander leaves and cashews.
16. Have fun eating with rice, jeera rice, pulav, goes well along with pappu as a side dish too.