Bitter Gourd Gravy / Pavakkai Kulambu
This is one of the kongunadu specialty recipes. Bitter gourds also known as bitter melons have lot of health benefits. Many won’t eat bitter gourd coz of it’s bitter taste, but if not for the taste it should be consumed once in a while for it’s health benefit. They are used in purifying blood tissues and helps in digestion and have lot more other health benefits. In Indian ayurvedic treatments, they are used to treat diabetics since they have insulin. I love bitter gourd fry which my mom makes as they are cooked in ghee and reduces the bitter taste a little. I also like this bitter gourd gravy which we often make at our houses. I added little sugar to the gravy recipe to slightly balance the bitter taste. Adjust the sugar or skip it if you don’t want it.
| Ingredients : | |
|---|---|
| Bitter Gourd | 2 nos |
| Oil | 3 tsp |
| Mustard | 1/2 tsp |
| Curry leaves | 1 strand |
| Salt | to taste |
| Sugar | 1 tsp |
| To grind : | |
| Coconut | 3 tbsp |
| Cinnamon | 1 no |
| Cloves | 2 nos |
| Fennel Seed | 1 tsp |
| Poppy Seed | 1 tsp |
| To fry and grind : | |
| Onion | 1/2 no |
| Coriander Seed | 1 tsp |
| Red Chili | 2 |
| Tomato | 1 no |
-
Step 1
chop onions, tomato. Slice bitter gourd. In a pan heat 1 tsp of oil, add red chili, coriander, onions. Fry the onions till golden brown. Add the choppoed tomatoed and fry till they become soft. Let it cool down, grind this and the items given in “To Grind” section all together.
-
Step 2
In an another pan, heat oil, When hot add mustard. When the mustard crackles, curry leaves and sliced bitter gourd and fry till they are cooked. add the ground mix,salt and allow it to boil till the raw smell leaves. Add the sugar at the end.
- Tamarind juice also can be added to make variations and also to reduce the bitter taste little.
(*) This goes good with Rice. Recipe from my mom.
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hi…nice recepies, i’ve become regular visitor but want to ask is there any other substitute for coconut ?
Thanks for coming often Vandna. I add coconut to balance the bitterness from the vegetable. Not sure if there’s a substitute, but you can try skipping that. I really dont know how would it turn, try it out and let us know.
Hi, You could try using raw cashews (soak them in a little water for 15 mins and grind it with all the other ingredients) in place of coconut…I use the cashews for other curries, which call for coconut..I dont know if it would work out for this..You may try and let us know.
Thanks Karki.. I will try this out sometime and update the recipe.
Bitter Guard : I & My Family we love it in any form. We will try this EID holidays for a Lunch with my Parents who have come from India. S.Kumar. Dubai. UAE.
Have fun with your parents Kumar !!! Thanks.
Chicken Jalfarezi….a nice Pakistani food recipe…try it !Ingredients * 3 lb. Chicken breast-boneless * 8 oz Green Pepper * 8 oz Tomato * 8 oz Onion (Red-Large) * 1 t Cumin Seed * 10 Garlic cloves * 2 oz Ginger root * 2 oz Green Chi
Thanks all for ur true words !!
I love bitter gourd! This dish looks delicious..Awesome click!
hi thx for visiting my site..n for sweet comments….by d way i neva tried bgourd curry before…this looks absolutely yummy…n spicy..thx for sharing..glad to following u …for more taditional dish!
Nice healthy kulambu Sashi…lovely clicks :)
Thanks Sashi for sharing this! I rarely cook bitter gourd curries. This looks delicious.
Pretty color..and I loved the bitter gourd rings popping out from it :-)
kulambu looks delicious dear :-)
I love bitter gaurds too…this sounds delicious….just the way my mom makes them..
Pavakkai kuzhambhu rombha nalla irukku,,very healthy vegetatble. Sure,,Sashi am gonna try ur version of pavakai kuzhambhu my amma use to cook often for my dad cos of diabeties,,now am missing my amma’s pavakai kuzhambhu she also add coconut paste to it,,it tastes yummy with rice and appalam..
wow!luks absolutely delicious!wil try it soon .tnx for sharing dear
i usually fry it but this is something which i have to do ….lovely orange colour and love coconut based gravies,it will be yum for sure
Waow! I can even sense the aroma of this curry! I can have it with plain cooked rice!
Looks nice..this method is new to me..I love BG,will try this method soon :)
PAvakkai kuzhambu looks fabulous, love bittergourd as anything as anyform…looks yum!
Yummy recipe dear..Never tried bittergourd gravy
karela in gravy is new recipe …looking great
these are fav veggie and just love any form the cooked with..yummy yum yum:)