Name: Bitter Gourd Fry with 5 ingredients/ Easy Karela/ Pahakkai Fry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups bitter gourd sliced (/ 1 large long bitter gourd sliced as in instructions below); 1 teaspoon turmeric; ⅛ teaspoon salt (or to taste); ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds; 2 tablespoons sunflower oil (or other mild vegetable oil)

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A simple, versatile and tasty side dish for Indian flat bread (chapati) or with rice, morekuzhambu or rasam or a plain Jeera Dal, this Bitter Gourd Fry is easy to make. Use less oil, to bring out the flavours of the bitter gourd and its nutrient and disease fighting properties.

Fried strips of bitter gourd/ karela in a white bowl with yogurt based yellow morekuzhambu in another white bowl diagonally above, all on a brown wooden background — Easy Quick Karela/ Pahakkai/ Bitter Gourd Fry

Most people I know do not like Karela. However this vegetable has an unique taste and if you try it with something plain, like a simple arahar dhal (split pigeon pea lentil stew) seasoned with jeera (cumin) and green chilies in ghee, or with the Tamil dish Morekuzhambu, it makes for an amazing combination.

Karela or Bitter gourd or Pavakkai in Tamil, (Botanical name Momordica charantia) is also called bitter squash, patrick or balsam pear, goya and even as Bitter melon.

When I buy karela, I try to get the ones that are long and slender but not too thin, and are green all over. Fresh karela is easy to slice and with the seeds not very large and hard.

Health and Nutrition with Bitter Gourd

The vegetable has several important nutrients and is believed to help reduce blood sugar in diabetics, as well as having possible cancer fighting properties. This article in healthline explains some of these.

Speaking from personal experience: some years ago when my husband was undergoing chemotherapy and seemed to take more medicines than food, he was just not enjoying the taste of food. For some reason that I don't understand, the bitter gourd fry, the more bitter the better, perked him up, giving him an appetite and helping to keep the food in in spite of the nausea which he would be subjected to.

Overhead view of strips of green bitter gourd or karela, after frying with turmeric and salt — Easy bitter gourd karela fry

Other Recipes You May Like To Try From This Blog:

Bharwa Karela: Bitter Gourd Stuffed with Raw Mango

A bright green bitter gourd being stuffed with a brown spicy mango and onion filling using a stainless steel spoon. Other stuffed bitter gourds in the background, ready to be fried — Bharwa Karela with Raw Mango filling

Morekuzhambu with Karela Rounds

Yogurt based capsicum morekuzhambu, made the Tamil Iyer way. With hot rice and fried karela or brinjal and with papad, its the perfect comfort food

Goan Bitter Gourd Kokum Dal

Thin strips of yellow green bitter gourd fry/ karela/ pahakkai in a white bowl on a brown wooden background

Bitter Gourd Fry with 5 ingredients/ Easy Karela/ Pahakkai Fry

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Resting time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: helping

Calories: 145kcal

Author: Sujata Shukla

100 Healthy Recipes Challenge: Recipe 2 A Healthy tasty side dish for Indian flat bread or with rice and a plain Jeera Dhal: easy to make and has the nutrients for properties for fighting cancer and other disease.

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Equipment

Knife
Chopping Board
Frying pan
Colander

Ingredients

2 cups bitter gourd sliced - / 1 large long bitter gourd sliced as in instructions below
1 teaspoon turmeric
⅛ teaspoon salt - or to taste
¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
2 tablespoons sunflower oil - or other mild vegetable oil

Instructions

Preparation

Wash the bitter gourd well, wipe dry. Remove the peel if you wish. I retain the peel as well as the tender seeds. Slice length wise first into blocks, halve and quarter each block and then slice into 1 inch long thin strips. Remove any hard seeds.
Mix turmeric and a little salt and rub into the bitter gourd pieces.
Set aside for 10 minutes in a colander to drain any water that may be extruded.

Making Bitter Gourd Karela Fry

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle.
Add the sliced bitter gourd, and saute, turning them occasionally so that all sides get fried.
Cook for about 10 minutes on low heat till done, stirring frequently.
Serve with hot phulkas or with Rice and Dal or rice and Morekuzhambu

Nutrition

Comments

Sujata Shukla says

January 20, 2016 at 12:34 pm

Thanks for the nice words, Mukundan Raman! Do set up your blog, I would love to read your recipes!

Mukundan Raman says

January 20, 2016 at 9:35 am

wow (a) you are foodie (b) am glad you like to try different stuff (c) great info (d) fantastic blog you have a follow her and I am inspired to start my blog too!!!