Kaakarakaaya nuvvupindi koora /Bitter gourd sesame fry

As I mentioned earlier,bitter gourd is seen regularly at our place as hubby likes this vegetable a lot.I have not seen anyone who is crazy about this vegetable,he can eat any variety cooked with this vegetable for rice/roti or as a starter(yes..,u heard it correct..he likes thsi vegetable so much..).Even though I am not a big fan of this vegetable I keep on experimenting this vegetable especially for my husband.I saw the recipe in Mallika Badrinath's book and liked the idea of adding sesame powder to the vegetable and the end product was even liked by me as it was not at all bitter.The bitterness from the bitter gourd is reduced by prior cooking process marinating and cooking in tamarind mixture and the addition of sesame powder added extra taste to the curry which suits perfectly with rice.If you are a bitter gourd lover like my husband you can give a try just for change.This recipe is sitting in my drafts from so many months,thought of posting it as it perfectly suits for priya's own event which is calling for "cooking with seeds-sesame seeds".

Ingredients:
4-5 Bitter gourds
1 medium onion,finely chopped
1 tbsp Sesame seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup thin tamarind pulp
1 tbsp grated jaggery
1 tsp red chilli powder/sambar powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste


Method:

• Wash and wipe bitter gourds,cut it into half lengthwise and remove the seeds and slice into thin half moon pieces.Add some salt and turmeric powder to it and mix well,leave it aside for half an hour and squeeze the water from it and keep aside.
• Mix tamarind pulp with salt,turmeric and enough water and let it boil and add the bitter gourd pieces and cook until soft.Drain the pieces and let them cool.This process helps in removing the bitterness of bitter gourd.
• Dry roast sesame seeds until they bulges up,cool them and grind it to a fine powder.
• Heat oil in a pan and crackle mustard seeds,curry leaves and then onion and fry till transparent.
• Add dhania powder,chilli powder to it and fry for a minute.
• Add bitter gourd pieces to it and fry on high flame until it changes its color.Add salt,jaggery and fry again for a couple of minutes.
• Sprinkle sesame powder and mix well and remove from the stove.

Serve it hot with hot rice and ghee.