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.

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.