Alu Karelay

Another one of my favorite combination of vegetables.. .. Oh and I just realized that’s my 3rd post on bitter gourds during past 2-3 months. A lot of people don’t like bitter gourds due to its bitter taste, but I am very much sure that this liked by many people who are brought up in Punjab. I remember during my childhood days this vegetable was only available during summer season, but now it’s available almost all year around, bitter gourds imported from China are  also available in market nowadays (which I didn’t like much). If you are also interested in making it then here is how I make it...

Ingredients:

500 gm bitter gourd

2-3 medium potatoes (peeled and cubed)
3 medium onions (sliced)
3-4 medium tomatoes(finely chopped)
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
Salt (to taste)
1&1/2 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp coriander powder
1 tsp amchoor powder/or use 1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 green chilies (chopped or whole) 
1/3  cup oil (plus a bit more for frying the bitter gourd)

 Method:

    1) Peel the bitter gourd, slice them in half length wise, scoop out all the seeds and chop them (1/2 inch slices). Take 1 tbsp of salt and rub it on the bitter gourds, leave the salt on for 2-3 hours. Wash them with water 2-3 time and squeeze the water out.

2) Heat the oil in a pan add half of the sliced onions fry till they get translucent, add cumin seeds and ginger & garlic paste, stir for 2 minutes then add tomatoes, salt, red chili powder, fry it well until the tomatoes are almost dissolved and oil separates (sprinkle some water if you need to in between).

3) Add the potatoes and fry for further 4-5 minutes, add 1/3 cup of water. Cover the pan and let it cook over medium-low heat until potatos are almost done.

4) Mean while in a frying pan or any other cooking pan, heat about ¼ cup of oil and add in the sliced bitter gourds, fry on medium low flame get, stirring in between until they get golden brown, turn off the flame.

 5) Once the potatoes are almost done and water dries up, add the fried bitter gourds along with the oil we fried them in, half of the remaining onions, chopped green chilies, dhania powder, amchoor powder and chopped fresh coriander, give it a stir cover the pan and let it cook on low flame for 5-10 minutes and turn the flame off. Serve with roti, green chutney and salad.