Somehow the name Bitter Gourd by itself prevents it from being included in most meals by both big and small. The health benefits of Bitter Gourd is enormous and is something that is not worth to be avoided but included in our meal plans. Podi or powder is a great way to consume it without loosing much of its natural flavor and benefits.
Health benefits of this veggies are weight loss, improves your digestion and immunity, lowers your blood sugar levels for those who are suffering from diabetes and one more good news and secret for ladies is that it has abundant supply of fibre, vitamins, anti-oxidants and minerals which helps flush out the toxins and also prevent damage caused due to free radicals in your body.
Biological Name: Momordica Charantia
Names in other languages: Karela (Hindi), Paakharkaai, Pavakkai (Tamil), Kakarakaya (Telugu), Karelu (Gujarati), Korolla (Bengali), Karali, Kareti, Karle (Marathi), Kaippakka (Malayalam)
Ingredients :
Bitter Gourd 4 small sized
Tamarind - medium gooseberry size
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsps
Salt - to taste
Garlic - 3
Oil - 3 - 4 tblsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsps
Salt - to taste
Garlic - 3
Oil - 3 - 4 tblsp
To Roast :
Chana dal - 3 tsp
Urad dal - 3 tsp
Coriander seeds - 3 tsp
Red chilli - 6 to 7
Method :
- Clean the bitter gourd well with water.
- Slice gourd into lengthwise half and remove the seeds. Then finely chop the gourd.
- Mix turmeric powder, salt and gourd in a bowl. Let this sit aside for 30 minutes. This step is mandatory, since it removes the excess bitterness from the gourd.
- Squeeze the excess water well from the gourd after 30 minutes.
- Roast all the listed ingredients with 1/2 tsp of oil to the pan until golden brown and transfer this to separate plate to cool down.
- In the same pan add remaining oil and squeezed bitter gourd to the pan to fry until golden brown with medium flame.
- The gourd shouldn't get burnt while frying. This step is time consuming but still you could compromise by having healthy podi instead of deep frying the gourd. Let this cool down.
- Grind Garlic, tamarind, salt, roasted dals and gourd to a coarse powder.
- Store this podi in a air tight container for a week in room temperature, otherwise it will be good for two weeks if you keep it in refrigerator.
- Serve this podi with hot rice and ghee accompanying with papad or vadam.
Tips :
- To avoid the bitterness, it is essential while selecting the gourd, it should be tender and color is parrot green instead of bottle green.
- Option of adding separately fried coconut to grinding at the time of making podi.
- Kids can also have it by not telling the name of the gourd. Since it is not visible, some magic needs to done with kids to make them eat this and we moms are good at it ;-)
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