Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Bharwan Karela (Stuffed Bitter Gourd) and AFAM - Orange



I got this awesome recipe from my friend. When I first had this at her place, I asked her for the recipe, she said in Hindi "yeh recipe tho bahauth simple hei, koob sara pyaaz aur koob saara tamatar bas!!" which means "this recipe is very simple, it makes use of lot of onions and tomatoes, thats it. Though it was not a very clear way of her to explain the recipe , I managed to get it right.


Ingredients

4 medium sized bitter gourds
4 cups finely chopped onions
2 cups of tomato puree
1tsp fennel seed
1 tsp garam masala or 2 tsp tava fry masala (Found in Indian Grocery stores)
1tsp Pomegranate seed powder
1tsp chilli powder
1tsp turmeric
1tsp Sugar
Salt
Oil

Preparation

Slit the bitter gourd length wise on one side and remove the seeds from inside as shown in the picture.


Apply some salt to the inner surface and steam cook it in a vessel without adding any water for a few minutes (approx 10-15 minutes) on medium flame . Remember not to over cook it . It should just get a little soft. You can even steam cook it in the pressure cooker without using the whistle and on a medium heat.
Once the skin is little cooked remove from heat and keep aside.
In another pan add 3-4 tbsp oil and fry the onions well, add the masalas, fennel seeds, chilli powder, salt, turmeric and fold them all together. To this add tomato puree and fry until the moisture is gone. It should form a thick paste as shown in the picture. Tava fry masala contains all the masalas required for stir fried vegetables. this makes the vegetable very tasty.


Remove this stuffing from heat and let it cool. This stuffing is filled into the bitter gourd and tied with clean thread so that they don't spill out. see the picture.




In a wide frying pan add 4-5 tbsp oil and gently place the bitter gourds. Let them get fried on medium heat until they turn crispy on one side. Now turn them to the other side and fry. They should get fried equally on all sides. Its ready to relish with Garam Garam (hot) rotis.


This one is for "S" for stuffed bitter gourd. Hope Nupur accepts this for A-Z of Indian Vegetables .

For the first time I am hosting an Event and its AFAM for the month of June.




The Fruit of the Month is "orange".

A little info. about oranges. The word "orange" ultimately comes from Sanskrit "narang" or Tamil. The fruit typically has 11 individual pieces inside and in Tamil, the word "Orangu" translates to "6 and 5" implying 11. Oranges originated in southeast Asia, in either India, Vietnam or southern China. The fruit of Citrus sinensis is called sweet orange to distinguish it from Citrus
(info. wiki)




So dear friends, get creative and start making wonderful recipes out of oranges.

So here is AFAM - A Fruit A Month Rules.

Rules are pretty much the same as other Blog Events.
1. Based on the fruit of the month, you have to come up with a recipe out of orange in any form.

2. Post the recipe on your blog by 25th of the month. Those who don't have a blog can directly email me their recipes and details.

3. If you can, write more information about the fruit.

4. Email me your name, a picture, perma-link of your recipe to sharmikomal@gmail.com with AFAM -(fruit name) as the subject.

5. Email me your post by the 25th of June and the final round up will be done within first week of July.

Thanks a lot Asha for letting me know about hosting this event.
I also thank Maheswari for confinding in me to host the event.

46 comments:

Chris said...

okay - you know what this means....Birdfood and I are going to have to redo our Bitter Melon Challenge! :)

archana said...

Normally I don't like Karela,but I love bharwan karela . Your recipe is nice. Will try it sometime :)
I liked the photo of the green karela slit.

Coffee said...

I love it!!!! I am gonna try it for sure! :)

Viji said...

Beautiful post Sharmi. Nice photos. Viji

Nupur said...

Thanks for the detailed instructions, complete with beautiful pictures!

Sia said...

so khoob sara pyaaz and tamatar? LOL... u have recreated the recipe very well sharmi...its not that easy when u have that kind of instruction to cook;) looks gr8...

FH said...

Looks delicious.Arvind likes Karela,will try this.Great entry Sharmi.
Are you hosting AFAM? Come out with the fruit lady or may be you have already and I missed it!!

TNL said...

Lovely recipe....loved what your friend said!! :) cute.

About artichokes...they taste wonderful when mixed in a dip like that, and baked. Try the baked artichoke dip at Boston Pizza sometime...you might like it!

trupti

Cynthia said...

Oh I love stuffed bitter gourd. When I did mine, I stuffed it with baby shrimp.

Yours looks so yummy, Sharmi.

Padma said...

Hey I am a fan of Karela n this dish looks promising...will surely try..those pictures makes reading and understanding the recipe more easy!
Thanks ya!

Richa said...

hey, stuffed karela looks yummy! have started liking karela a lot, was not the case as a kid :)i also make it with just the onion, comes out well!

Jyothi said...

Hi Sharmi, i love karela very much. Now a days, looking for karela recipe. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe. Very soon, going to try this.

Tee said...

Hi Sharmi!
Your bharwan karela looks really good! I also cook karelas like this with a little different masala. i will definitely try out this recipe...thanks!

Priyanka said...

Sharmi,
this is my first time on your blog. my sis-in-law makes tempting stuffed karelas just like yours. will definitely try to participate in the AFAM event.

Surya Hith said...

Nice recipe Sharmi,I love karela very much.Here I use Chinese bittergourd more than indian karela.They are less bitter in taste.I have to try it with that variety.Thanks.

Sreelu said...

Sharmi,

Love bitter gourd, kids hate it at home so I don't get to cook this often. mouthwatering.

Orange great choice for AFAM, I did orange sherbat a while ago. will be perfect entry of AFAM

Anonymous said...

not a big kerala fan but your recipe looks lovely...thanks for sharing

Chef Jeena said...

Hey Sharmi nice recipe I love stuffed vegetables I bet these tasted really nice :)

bee said...

sharmi, this is funny. i was gonna pick orange for july. you beat me to it. i love that fruit. great choice!!

Nanditha Prabhu said...

i have always loved karelas... not tried this version..looks great...sure to give it a try!

Suganya said...

AFAM - Orange....Wonderful pick....
Ur stuffed bitter Gourd is looking great....

Kribha said...

I've had this dish in my friend's place but I could not get the recipe from her. I was so happy to see this in your blog. Will try it sometime. Picture looks tempting. Thanks for sharing this recipe with the step by step pics.

WokandSpoon said...

Hmm...I never used to like bitter gourd when I was a kid and haven't had it since. I should try again bec maybe my tastebuds have changed. The stuffed bitter gourd looks nice and spicy!

Sig said...

Orange...a great pick for AFAM sharmi... love it... the bittergourd dish looks delicious too...
Funny, I thought I left a comment here yesterday, and I sure didn't see the AFAM update...

FH said...

You are welcome Sharmi.Great choice!:))
Do you want a photo sent along with the recipe? If yes,what's the dimensions?

Shivapriya said...

hhaha
I have oranges and I'm just thinking to make something fav of my husband nice choice sharmi.
Bharwan kerala looks great!

sunita said...

The stuffed karela looks great and so is the choice of fruit...it's one of our favourites...

Sharmi said...

hey Asha, ya I will need pictures, and dimensions, don't bother. I have mentioned about pictures in the rules. take care

thanks my dear friends for your lovely comments.

DEEPA said...

all the best sharmi , for hosting this event ...I would really understand the efforts that you would be putting on for this event...Nice recipe on karela ..I love karela ..thks for sharing ...

Bong Mom said...

Sharmi
Your bharwa karela looks awesome. All the best for hosting AFAM orange. Great fruit

swapna susarla said...

Hi Sharmi
my mother in law prepares this stuffed karela.looks yummy.
sure will try to participate in the AFAM.

Mishmash ! said...

I liked your green bitter gourd pic a lot :)
Btw,somehow I had a feeling that AFAM is going be orangy this month but never had an idea that you re going to host this time :) My fruit basket is full of oranges these days and I hope to contribute :)

Shn

Seema Bhat said...

Oh my god Sharmi, you have become an expert food photographer lady. When i had the first glance over your stuffed karela i thought it was fish or something. Lovely recipe and good luck in hosting AFAM girl.
hugs
Seema

Radha said...

So how many orange-recepies have you received yet? :)

Prema Sundar said...

I rarely cook karela , but I wanted to try a stuffed one for a long time. Ur recipe sounds interesting and thanks for the step by step pics which would really help first timers.

Viji said...

Heyy Count on me for AFAM :-)

Raaga said...

I researched the internet yesterday to get a nice recipe for something orange. I hope to get it out to you real soon.

Chandrika said...

The bitter gourd looks awesome Sharmi! And the AFAM selection is great. I am looking forward to participate.

Unknown said...

i have got something on my mind already and i'll send you my entry, shami!! great event!

Raaga said...

I found the recipe for my Orange entry... I was dreaming about this and found the recipe that will go very well with this. Exactly what I had in mind.

ushaprashanth said...

Hi!
This is a very nice way of having bitter gourd! will be very nice for hot rasam rice!!

Pelicano said...

Hey Sharmi! I remember this post now, as I have already book-marked it to try! :-) Your photos are quite fabulous I must say!

A few years ago, I had made a similar stuffed karela recipe, but with a potato stuffing- it was just OK, but I love tomatoes and browned onions, so I am sure I could not help but love this; you can be sure I will try it as I am just now beginning to be overwhelmed by too many karelas to use (last year at the end of the season I had like 4 gallons of them- both Indian and Chinese types, so made them into a pickle as I already had 2 or 3 prepared dishes in the fridge that needed finishing!)

Saju said...

Hi our recipes are similar but different. Great idea using thread!

Raaga said...

I bought 2 small karelas and will make this for myself on Sunday :-) S hates this vegetable and I am alone for lunch on Sunday :-)

Anonymous said...

We love pavakai and this recipe is a godsend. Thank you Sharmi. Where in MI are you. I am in Novi

Unknown said...

hi just saw ur stuffed karela looks good am goin to try today will tell u how it goes