Kakarakaya Vepudu( Bittergourd or karela fry )

Though i am not that good cooking kakarakaya( bitter gourd aka karela) i do it for its nutritional benefits. This time when i started i thought kakarkaya vepudu would turn out to be a big flop., but to my surprise the end product was so yummy yummy. I would like to use kakarakaya very often from now. For now i will post the pictures and i will post the recipe soon.


Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized bitter gourds(kakarakaya ./ karelas)
• 2 big onions
• salt
• sugar
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
• red chilli powder
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup yogurt

For Tempuring(Tadka) optional:

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 10 curry leaves
• 1 tbsp chana dal

Procedure:

• Clean the bitter gourds(kakarakaya) and drain them
• Peel off the skin( run the peeler just once ). This is optional step
• Chop bitter gourd very very finely( the finer you chop the quicker it cooks )
• Add turmeric, salt and yogurt. Let it marinate for 1 hour( or more optional )
• Squeeze the chopped pieces and drain them on kitchen towel or paper towels( doing this will remove the bitterness by half )
  
• Heat kadai( or wok ) with oil and add the cumin seeeds, mustard seeds, chana dal and when they start to pop add the curry leaves.
• Add the chopped kakarakaya ( bitter gourd ) pieces and fry stirring occassionally.
• When they are little brown add the finely chopped onions and fry for 3-5 min until done
• Add sugar , salt and red chilli powder
• Cook for 2 more min until done.
• The end product should be very crispy.

No one would know that this is kakarakaya fry unless you tell them. Serve this with hot rice. I know my mom cooks stuffed karelas, would like to try that recipe soon. Kakarakaya is so good for people with diabetes, please do omit sugar in that case.

Tags:bitter gourd fry, bittergourd curry, kakarakaya fry, kakarakaya vepudu, karela fry