Stuffed Bitter gourd – Kakarakaya koora

Bittergourd or Kakarakaya or Hagalakayi or Karela as called in various languages is not so popular vegetable amongst kids. Why just kids there are majority of adults who dislike this vegetable due to its bitter taste. But when done right, this one tastes really good.

This version of stuffed karela is a quickie and my most favourite version. While there are multiple version of stuffed Karela subzi, this one doesn’t use too many spices and goes pretty well with rice, a staple diet of South Indians.

Ingredients

1. Bitter gourds – Small and tender preferred – 5 to 6
2. Onion – 1 large
3. Gram flour / Besan – 2 Tbsp
4. Jeera – 1 tsp
5. Salt per taste
6. Chilli powder per taste
7. Turmeric – Half tsp
8. Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
9. Curd – 1 Tbsp

Process

1. Lightly scrape the skin of karela and wash it well under running water.
2. If Karelas are smaller or mini versions then trim the top and bottom and scopp out the seeds from the Karela.
3. If the Karelas are bigger, then you can cut them into 2 to 2.5 Inches sized pieces and then scoop the seeds and pulp out.
4. Drop the deseeded karelas in a vessel filled with water and little salt. Water level should be good enough to cover the gourds.
5. Beat the curd and add it to the water and let it boil.
6. Once the water boils, reduce the flame and let it simmer for 3 to 4 mins. Gourds should have become slightly softer but still firm.
7. While the gourds are simmering, grind onion to a fine paste and transfer it to a plate or flat vessel.
8. Add salt, turmeric, jeera, chilli powder and gram flour to the onion paste and mix well.
9. If you feel the paste is too runny then add lil more gram flour. Ensure that you the mix doesn’t become too thick else the stuffing would taste more of cooked besan.
10. Now drain the gourds and let them cool slightly for a bit. ( This one step is what I have never followed till date as my cooking is always hurried 🙂 )
11. Once gourds are slightly cooled off , stuff the karela barrels with the onion and gram flour mix. Do not worry if the paste keeps coming out slightly as the paste is not too thick. You can use a spoon to scoop and stuff the gourds.
12. In a frying pan, heat the oil and once its lil hot, place the gourds one by one and leave them for 3 to 4 mins on low heat.
13. Now turn them over to cook the other side. Once you see the stuffing is sticking well to the gourds and not falling apart, turn them couple of times gently and let them cook on all sides.
14. Once you see the gourd is cooked on all sides and stuffing also looks golden brown switch off the heat .
15. Transfer to a serving bowl. You can garnish with coriander, but it’s totally optional.

Few points.

1. In case you do not have gram flour, you can use roasted chana daal powder or Sattu too without compromising on the taste.
2. You can slit smaller karelas keeping the ends intact and deseed.
3. You can also tie the karelas with clean thread or pin them using tooth picks and shallow fry the Karelas instead of cooking it like a subzi and serve these as individual potlis

Do try it out and leave your feedback.