A Karela recipe as my mom taught me.
Karela has been on my favourite list since my childhood. Yes surprisingly I have loved this bitter tasting vegetable made anyways – chips, fried with onions or stuffed. I don’t when some one adds sugar or jaggery to make it sweet. No! I mean it is karela. And Karela is supposed to taste bitter. Get it. This recipe has been popular in our home. I loved it when my mom or my mami made. In fact whenever my mami made this, she would send a tiffin packed with at least 2 karelas to my home just for me. So sweet.
INGREDIENTS
- Karela – 5, small ones
- Peanut powder
- Onion – 1, finely chopped
- Garlic – 4 to 5 cloves, crushed
- Coriander leaves – handful, finely chopped
- MOMmade Haldi Powder – Half teaspoon
- MOMmade Chilli Powder – 1 teaspoon
- MOMmade Khandeshi Mazala – 1 tablespoon
- MOMmade Dhana Powder – 1 tablespoon
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying and binding the mixture
Wash the Karela well. I dont remove the skin ever. Give a slit at one side and remove the seeds to create a cavity to fill the stuffing. For all the people who cant bear the bitterness, the 2nd step is important. Boil the cut karela in water with a teaspoon of salt for roughly 5 minutes. This also saves cooking time.
Mix all the rest on ingredients with 1 tablespoon of oil. Oil helps to bind the stuffing together. A quick tip here – Use you clean hands to mix. It just adds in the extra love and actually easier to mix it really well.MOMmade Khandeshi Mazala is the key ingredient here. It is perfect for such stuffing in taste, aroma and consistency as well. This mixture can actually be used to make stuff brinjals, bhindi and capsicum as well.
Stuff each karela with enough masala stuffing and don’t worry about the remaining masala. We will be using it as well.
Heat oil in a pan and throw in the stuffed karela along with the extra masala stuffing. Cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Then continue to cook uncovered. Keep changing the sides of karela to get all the sides fried properly.
I usually take it to the burnt level of cooking as I like it that way. It is optional for you. Sprinkle some more finely chopped coriander leaves and a few drops of lemon if you like and relish it with chapati.
Do try this homely version with MOMmade Khandeshi Mazala of course and you would not stop at one karela for sure. Karela may be bitter but nothing stops you from making it yummy. Remember ‘Yumminess Everyday‘.
BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.
I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.
welovemommade.com 