Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all doing well and taking care of yourself and your family. I thought I will use this pandemic as an opportunity to refresh and refine my cooking skills and promote more vegetarian dishes into my daily life. In my opinion, If cooked properly, the vegetarian dish tastes better or even defeat the non-veg recipes.
I grew up in the southwest region of India, a state called Kerala. Kerala is a tropical place and has an abundance of tropical food to indulge. For instance, we have coconuts, jack fruits, tapioca, different types of spinach, mango’s, a wide variety of beans, and several melons, such as winter melon, bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd in Kerala.
Bitter gourd is one of my favourite vegetables. It tastes so bitter, and that’s precisely why it is such a special dish in the Indian cuisine. Today I will share with you my recipe to make the popular Kerala style bitter gourd curry. I currently live in New Zealand. Luckily, I can buy fresh bitter gourd from the local Indian supermarkets here in Wellington. I am not sure where they get bitter melon, I suspect it is coming from the nearby islands such as Fiji.
Ingredients
1 Bitter gourd, aka. Bitter melon
2 tablespoon coconut oil
¼ tablespoon mustard seeds
Curry leaves
3 Dry red chilies
3 Green Chilies
1 Tablespoon Ginger
1 Shallot
1 Onion
1 Tomato
Salt
¼ tablespoon turmeric powder
½ tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
Water
100 ml thick coconut milk
Here are the steps:
Cut and remove all the seeds, including the spongy white stuff from the bitter gourd. You can use a spoon to scoop it out. The seeds are not edible, so discard them.
Once all the seeds are removed, slice the bitter gourd into small pieces and leave it aside.
Chop onions, shallots, tomato, and ginger. Also, cut the green chilies in two halves.
Use a pan to splutter mustard seeds and sauté other ingredients prepared above. Also, add some salt to enhance flavour and reduce the cooking time.
Use another pan and quickly stir-fry the bitter gourd and leave it aside. We don’t want to overcook it.
Use another pan to heat the chili powder, coriander powder, and turmeric.
When ready, add some water, mix all three well (bitter gourd, sautéed ingredients, and heated powders), close lid, and cook for two minutes. I like thick curries, so I only add a little bit of water.
Stop the stove and add the coconut milk and mix well. Taste and add more salt if required.
Close the lid and leave it for a few minutes.
The curry is now ready to serve. I recommend some warm boiled rice to go with.
In summary, the vegetarian dishes taste the same as or better than the non-veg dishes. Luckily, we got a lot of vegetarian recipes to follow. New Zealand also grows a wide variety of vegetables here, and we import other veggies from nearby islands. So, what are you waiting for? Go and cook this tasty dish today. 😊
Take care, everyone!
Aneesh Varghese
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