Stuffed Karela(Bitter gourd) - Type1

Bitter gourd is a common medicinal food for diabetics.Very few people like this vegetable and my hubby is one among them.He is a very big fan of karela and so it is prepared atleast once a week at our place.He likes to eat it even with roti or even as a snack.I prepare so many stuffed variety recipes with bitter gourd and I have learnt this version from my mom and it is always liked by everyone.Even though you are not a karela lover,I am sure you will definitely like this version of karela as the bitterness of karela is reduced by prior cooking process.

Ingredients:

5-6 Bitter gourds(long or short)
1/4 cup thin tamarind pulp
1 tbsp jaggery
1/2 tsp haldi (turmeric)
1 tsp salt
3-4 tbsp oil

for stuffing:

2 tbsp Chana dal
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp pepper corns
2 tbsp besan(chickpea flour)
3-4 Laung
1/2" cinnamon
5-6 red chillies
2 pods of garlic
salt


Method:

• Wash and cut off corners and cut Bitter gourds into half (2" pieces) and scoop out the seeds from it.
• Boil water with tamarind pulp,salt,haldi and jaggery in a deep vessel and add bitter gourds to it and boil until soft,75% done.This process reduces the bitterness of the bitter gourds.
  
• Remove the bitter gourds from the mixture and run cold water over them and keep aside.
• In a pan heat a spoon of oil add chana dal,urad dal,coriander seeds,cumin seeds,pepper corns,Laung,cinnamon,red chillies until light golden brown in color.Cool it and grind it to a coarse powder by adding salt to it.Add garlic pods to it and grind again once.
• Dry roast besan and mix with the ground masala.Add a spoon of oil to the mixture just to make it wet which helps in easily stuffing the bitter gourds.
• Stuff the mixture in the bitter gourds tightly with the stuffing mixture.
• Heat a pan and add 2-3 tsp of oil and when the oil is hot place the bitter gourds carefully and fry it on medium flame for 8-10 mins until it is crispy and browned evenly.(you can even deep fry those stuffed bitter gourds in the oil to get better taste,but I prefer shallow fry method in order to cut the extra calories).
• Cut into rounds like I have shown or serve it as it is.
  

Serve it with hot rice and ghee.