and now for a nice light dish, to compensate for the decadence of the previous one...and to escape from the cholesterol police of course.
Karela has been a favourite of mine since I was a child. I used to happily eat boiled Karela, and Karela crisply fried with salt was heaven...(We bengalis like eating a lot of vegetables, just fried in oil). As discussed before, I was much reviled amongst my cousins, since I was the model kid who not only refused to eat chocolates , but also had second and third helpings of karelas :P
In Bengal, one generaly gets two to three varieities of the karela.. the genteel, small uchhe, which is the most commonly eaten..I used to love ucchhe bhaaja, the korola ( the common karela) which I think is regarded as kind of plebian.. the large fleshy kaankrol..which at our house at least, would only be served fried)
Now I maintain that the secret of cooking gourds, is that they should be cooked very very light, with MINIMAL oil and spice. None of this ginger garlic nonsense thank you, and woe betide any person who says that gourds have no taste of their own. Whenever I hear this, my automatic reaction is, "sure, that's because only bengalis know how to cook them" As a result, I eat loads of gourds of different kinds, and if people must share my tiffin, they can take it or leave it.
the recipe I follow for karela chenchki/ uchhe chochhori.
Bitter gourds, as many as you like
A table spoonful of paanchphorn
turmeric
Salt
sugar
and my concession to letting my purist snobbery drop- a dash of amchur.
Cut up the bitter gourd into thin round slices. If enthu, dice them into cmalleer slices after this.
Heat some oil in a kadai, and roast the paanchphoron. Revel in the fragrance. take a small small teaspoon-ish amount of the paanchphoron and keep aside
Add the bitter gourd, the turmeric and the salt. stir , stir stir like mad.
The bitter gourds will become slightly translucent after a while.Cover it up and let it be.
Four Karelas take about 30 mins to cook. After 30 mins, come back, if the vegetables, still need some more cooking ( bitter gourds should be COMPLETELY soft when they are ready) ie if they are still what we call kochkoche.. as in need some effort to bite, add some more water and cover for another fifteen minutes.Check if it is properly cooked
Take the paanchphoron that you had kept aside, and stir it in with the amchur and the sugar, mix thoroughly and turn of flame after two minutes
Once karela is properly cooked, the colour should change to a dirty-ish green from a nice dark green...
the reason why you add some paanchphoron later is that often whole spices lose their smell, once they have been boiled alongside the vegetable.
there is an even easier way to cook this
Boil the bitter gourd pieces . Drain and drink the water ( don't wrinkle your nose, it's good for you)
Heat the oil in a pan or a kadai, and fry the paanchphoron. Put in the drained bitter gourd, and add the turmeric salt and sugar, mix well, and let it roast for about ten minutes..this dish should be completely dry
Edit : Cooking time of course depends on the qty of the vegetable, as well as the size of the pieces they are cut into. I cook huge quantities at one go-hence the 30 mins!
Note: Re-reading this note- I realised at that time a) I cooked unnecessarily super-huge quantities for one b) I cooked on really low heat. Therefore the 30 minutes. I cook on high or medium heat nowadays- though I have heard low heat is the best for health.
Karela has been a favourite of mine since I was a child. I used to happily eat boiled Karela, and Karela crisply fried with salt was heaven...(We bengalis like eating a lot of vegetables, just fried in oil). As discussed before, I was much reviled amongst my cousins, since I was the model kid who not only refused to eat chocolates , but also had second and third helpings of karelas :P
In Bengal, one generaly gets two to three varieities of the karela.. the genteel, small uchhe, which is the most commonly eaten..I used to love ucchhe bhaaja, the korola ( the common karela) which I think is regarded as kind of plebian.. the large fleshy kaankrol..which at our house at least, would only be served fried)
Now I maintain that the secret of cooking gourds, is that they should be cooked very very light, with MINIMAL oil and spice. None of this ginger garlic nonsense thank you, and woe betide any person who says that gourds have no taste of their own. Whenever I hear this, my automatic reaction is, "sure, that's because only bengalis know how to cook them" As a result, I eat loads of gourds of different kinds, and if people must share my tiffin, they can take it or leave it.
the recipe I follow for karela chenchki/ uchhe chochhori.
Bitter gourds, as many as you like
A table spoonful of paanchphorn
turmeric
Salt
sugar
and my concession to letting my purist snobbery drop- a dash of amchur.
Cut up the bitter gourd into thin round slices. If enthu, dice them into cmalleer slices after this.
Heat some oil in a kadai, and roast the paanchphoron. Revel in the fragrance. take a small small teaspoon-ish amount of the paanchphoron and keep aside
Add the bitter gourd, the turmeric and the salt. stir , stir stir like mad.
The bitter gourds will become slightly translucent after a while.Cover it up and let it be.
Four Karelas take about 30 mins to cook. After 30 mins, come back, if the vegetables, still need some more cooking ( bitter gourds should be COMPLETELY soft when they are ready) ie if they are still what we call kochkoche.. as in need some effort to bite, add some more water and cover for another fifteen minutes.Check if it is properly cooked
Take the paanchphoron that you had kept aside, and stir it in with the amchur and the sugar, mix thoroughly and turn of flame after two minutes
Once karela is properly cooked, the colour should change to a dirty-ish green from a nice dark green...
the reason why you add some paanchphoron later is that often whole spices lose their smell, once they have been boiled alongside the vegetable.
there is an even easier way to cook this
Boil the bitter gourd pieces . Drain and drink the water ( don't wrinkle your nose, it's good for you)
Heat the oil in a pan or a kadai, and fry the paanchphoron. Put in the drained bitter gourd, and add the turmeric salt and sugar, mix well, and let it roast for about ten minutes..this dish should be completely dry
Edit : Cooking time of course depends on the qty of the vegetable, as well as the size of the pieces they are cut into. I cook huge quantities at one go-hence the 30 mins!
Note: Re-reading this note- I realised at that time a) I cooked unnecessarily super-huge quantities for one b) I cooked on really low heat. Therefore the 30 minutes. I cook on high or medium heat nowadays- though I have heard low heat is the best for health.
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