We had been to Sikkim last year. It had been a great trip. We made it towards the end of summer when the climate was cooler and warmer, and more towards the pleasant. There were no crowd of travelers which only made every place of visit peaceful and ideal. What more. It is the only Organic state in India and we got to relish the best and most natural fruits, and veggies. There were few veg restaurants. And even those serve the simplest of meals, with Hot steaming rice, with delicious dal, and Sabzi ( that strictly grows in line with season). It only made me wonder why at all we eat all those paneer, tadkas and all those complicated dishes which does no justice to our health despite the huge money we end up paying after dining. During our visit, the veggies that were seasonally grown were Karela, Carrot, potato, onion. So we had carrot-potato mixed subji as side dish.
But to our surprise the waitress served a complementary dish which was a plateful of Karela. I never got to cook Karela anytime post my marriage as by default we agreed we all will not like it though it is a healthy dish. But to our surprise the Karela she served was palatable enough and yet frankly say delicious with the dal rice. This for the first time in my life made me a big fan of Karela. And since then I keep making Karela sabji every two weeks in my home. I couldnt get it minimally bitter as the one we had in Sikkim but still I could make it tasty enough to go with Curd rice or dal rice. Hmmm... A long story is it not.. Let me move on to the recipe.
Ingredients:
Bitter gourd - Four long ones, deseeded and chopped into small squares
Onion - Two big ones chopped finely
Red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Jaggery powdered - one to two spoons
Tadka - Three to four spoons of oil, Jeera, Mustard seeds.
Way to go
But to our surprise the waitress served a complementary dish which was a plateful of Karela. I never got to cook Karela anytime post my marriage as by default we agreed we all will not like it though it is a healthy dish. But to our surprise the Karela she served was palatable enough and yet frankly say delicious with the dal rice. This for the first time in my life made me a big fan of Karela. And since then I keep making Karela sabji every two weeks in my home. I couldnt get it minimally bitter as the one we had in Sikkim but still I could make it tasty enough to go with Curd rice or dal rice. Hmmm... A long story is it not.. Let me move on to the recipe.
Ingredients:
Bitter gourd - Four long ones, deseeded and chopped into small squares
Onion - Two big ones chopped finely
Red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Jaggery powdered - one to two spoons
Tadka - Three to four spoons of oil, Jeera, Mustard seeds.
Way to go
- Mix the chopped bitter gourd with a half a spoon of salt and let it soak for some ten minutes. This will ooze out water from bitter gourd which should be drained. This will help reduce bitterness to some extent.
- Heat oil in a pan, and splutter mustard seeds and Jeera. Now add the chopped onions and fry till transparent.
- Now add the bitter gourd chopped, and saute well in medium low heat. Once they are soft, you can add the red chilli powder as per taste and cook for two minutes.
- Once cooked, add the powdered jaggery and mix well. Cook for a minute and turn off.
- Adjust for salt, spice and sweetness as required to get the taste of your choice.
- Simple Karela sabji is ready that will go well with curd rice or dal rice.
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