Bitter Gourd I feel is a funky vegetable, so different in its taste and texture as compared to any other vegetable. The bitter taste is what sets it apart and you either love it or hate it. Luckily everybody in my family loves it and we cannot have enough of it.

This is a favorite dish of mine and is a typical Konkani recipe. I have learnt this from MIL. She is an expert in making this and whenever she is here, she makes an extra batch for me and stores it in the fridge. I then go on for days eating it with rice, rotis, or right about anything.

karate_ghashi

Ingredients

1 medium sized bitter gourd (karela/ bitter melon)

½ cup shredded coconut

5-6 red chillies

Juice of lemon size tamarind

3 tsps of jaggery

Pinch of Asafotedia

Turmeric

2 tsps Corriander seeds

1 tsp jeera

Oil, salt, mustard

1 cup of water

Method:

v     Clean the bitter gourd thoroughly and cut it into small cubes.

v     Boil 1 cup of water and add the diced bitter gourd cubes and cook until done.

v     Meanwhile roast the red chillies, coriander seeds, jeera with little oil and keep aside to cool.

v     Grind coconut along with red chillies, tamarind extract, and roasted spices into fine paste.

v     Add this ground paste to the cooked bitter gourd and heat again.

v     Add salt, jaggery and let it continue to boil more.

v     Make a tadka of mustard, curry leaves, asafetida, and 1 broken red chilly and add to the mixture.

 The dish is ready and has a unique combination of sweet, tangy, bitter, spicy taste that goes well with rice, Rotis, literally anything.

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14 Replies to “Bitter Gourd Curry/ Karate Ghashi”

  1. Isn’t it tastier when someone else make the food , especially a expert person like you MIL or mom
    I woudn’t mind to have the dish with plain rice. MMMMMMMMM

  2. Thanks HappyCook, wonderful choice. Rice it is then fo you.

    Latha, loved your recipes and blog as well.

    Padma, glad you liked my blog. It is a christmas theme, sounds festive and cheerful isn’t it? Well, I am from Bangalore, even though I am a Konkani. So I have influences of kannada, north kanara and south kanara in my everyday cooking.

  3. I dont LOVE bittergourd, but I’m trying to eat more of them 🙂 So I’m always on the lookout for tasty recipes. Going to bookmark this one!

  4. I don’t care for bitter gourds but my husband loves them. So I will try this out. I like the steel vessel you have shown in the pic.

  5. Hi

    I love bittergourd but im really scared making anythng out of it coz its so bitter. ur recipe is really nice.. shud try this. thnx for sharing.

  6. Thanks Mandira. Yes, the bitter taste lingers but that is not the pre-dominant falvor. It is masked by the sweet, hot and tangy taste as well.

    Thanks Sushma. It is a aquired taste, i guess. But once you love it, it is for life!

  7. Well, should the bitter gourd be so well cooked that it they can be mashed up easily? What if i grind the bitter guard of mash them up completely in this recipe? will it be right?

  8. Mona, sorry saw this post only now. No, please don’t mash the bitter gourd, it is best when cooked ( no crunch left). The gravy has all the other taste to mask the bitterness of the bitter gourd.

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