Stuffed Karela Bitter Gourd Bhaji/Sabji
Bharawa Karela
Mamta Gupta
In this dish, karelas are stuffed with a delicious mix of spices and cooked slowly. They are eaten in small quantity, rather like a pickle. So, serve them sliced into 3-4 portions each, unless they are small karelas.
Bitter Gourd or Carilla fruit is a tropical vegetable, botanical name Momordica charantia Linn. It is a very popular vegetable in India and China. It is an acquired taste, like chillies, and you either love or hate it. Chinese Karela looks less spiky than the Indian one and is perhaps a little less bitter.
It has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries, it contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, B1 and B2 and vitamin C. Its juice is an excellent skin tonic and good for controlling itching, rash, acne, boils, scabies, ringworm and psoriasis. Eaten as a vegetable or its juice taken as a drink, helps to lower blood sugar in diabetics, because it contains high doses of "plant insulin". It is anti-pyretic (reduces fever). For medicinal purpose, it is best to have juice of raw karela, which is extremely bitter.
This dish can be made in an air-fryer
Serves 4
Edited September 2024
Ingredients
500 gm. karela (bitter-gourd), buy fresh and green looking ones, they have tenderer seeds.
1 large green, unripe mango or ripe tamarind pulp*, peeled and flesh removed from the stone
2 medium sized onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2-3 green chillies, to taste
2 level tsp. ground fennel seeds (saunf).
1 tsp. chilli powder, more if you like it hot. Adjust to taste.
1 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
Salt to taste
2-3 tbsp. mustard oil or other oil of choice
*Green mangoes are available from Indian/Gujarati grocers. Tamarind paste is a very good substitute for mangoes. (see notes)
Instructions
To prepare the karela:
Scrape the rough skin off gently, slit the side of each karela and scoop out the inside with a melon-baller or a scoop. I often don't do this, because i like the bitterness of the skin. If you have a long courgette scoop, you do not have to slit the sides. You can scoop the whole karelas hollow from one end.
Discard the hard seeds and any ripe/pink looking pith, but save the tender one.
Sprinkle with salt and keep aside for 2 hours to draw out bitter water. Then wash and stand vertically to drain out water. I often omit this traditional step, because I like the bitterness.
Making the stuffing
Grind the onions, mangoes, ginger, green chillies, scooped-out insides (tender seeds and pith) of the karelas, and all the spices, in a food processor. If you don't have mangoes, add tamarind pulp here.
Divide the stuffing into as many portions as you have karelas.
Stuff each karela with this mixture and loosely wrap around with sewing cotton.
Place on an ovenproof tray or dish lined with aluminium foil and sprinkled with a little oil.
Pour it over the karelas. Cover with aluminium foil and cook in a hot oven 200-250C or 400-450F, until the skin is tender, nicely browned and almost crisp. Sometimes you may need to brown and crisp them in a pan, as shown.
If you do not have an oven, cook in a heavy bottomed wok or kadhai on low fire:
Heat the oil on medium heat. Lower karelas gently into it.
Cook on low-medium heat, slowly, turning them over occasionally. Their skin becomes tender and browned when ready.
Cooking in an Air fryer:
Place stuffed bitter-gourds/karelas on an aluminium foil.
Spray or brush with cooking oil on both sides, generously.
Place them in the air fryer. Cook at 200C for 6-8 minutes,
Turn over and cook for another 6-8 minutes. They should look browned, slightly crisp and soft to touch. If not, cook for a bit longer or finish them off in a frying pan or wok.
Serve hot or cold, as part of an Indian meal.
Notes
*You can buy ripe tamarind in block from Indian grocers. Soak it in 1/2 cup hot water for half an hour. Mash it with fingers and sieve it to remove stones ad fibrous bits. Save the resulting pulp. If you can't find tamarind or green mango, use the flesh of a very tart coking apple, grated.
This dish freezes well and can be made in bulk.
It can be made quite hot as it is eaten in small quantities, almost like a pickle.
Also see: Imli wala Karela