When it comes to kitchen chores, men were considered to be very poor at it. Cooking does not goes well with everyone, especially when it comes to Indian men. It is the Indian family upbringing that makes dependency on Mom in childhood and later on Wife after marriage for the foods. The mindset does not allow major of Men population to learn cooking. But in my opinion a person should know the basic cooking to sustain their food as and when required rather than depending upon others or restaurants.
I know to cook few of the Indian dishes. And I am happily engage in kitchen chores as and when required. Today, after many months, I tried cooking bitter gourd *(Karela) fry at home.
Bitter gourd, Bitter melon but we call it Karela is a popular vegetable item at every Indian home. Karela is known for its potential benefits in managing blood sugar levels, aiding digestion, and promoting skin health. Bitter in tastes, may avoit it, but it is pacjed with multiple health benefits alongwith a nice taste when fried properly. I never tried it before. I am ok to fry Potaroes or orka, but karela is my first time go and that after many months. So I bring freshly plucked Karela from nearby market and washed it properly.
I remember calling it a mini version of crocodile, finding the surface very uneven. It has bumpy surface that may make people to avoid. My liking to it let me to wash it properly and chopped them into circular shape. I kept the thickness little thinner to make it crispy on deep frying. I also took few photos of the curvy surface.
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Many people avoid eating the white or pale yellow seeds, inside the karela. But take my words it gets too delicious when get cripynon frying. People generslly remove them but in my case I kept it as it is. Next step involve frying them in low heat for 10 minutes. For this, I took few Muatard oil in a pan, and added few cummin seeds. Once they get heat, I put all the karela pieces into it.
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I stir it for few minutes to avoid it burning. In between I i creased the flame faster frying. In few minutes, the green surface turns bit blackish due to frying.
Here comes the twist in tale. Just to try something new , I added a few onion bulbs on it. It was a random number and there is no specific quantity. The new texture on the frying pan does look capitivating.
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I made onion to fry as well, by stirring and mixing the onion and karela in slow flame.
Once the onion bulbs too start changing its color when i added Turmeric and Salt to taste on it. A must to go item.for every food. Turmeric is all important item in Indian kitchen and without salt, the food does not taste.
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As you may notice, the Green karela has already turning bit blackish due to frying and cooking on heat. This ensures that the my loved karela fry is almost ready. After mixing the two spices I.e turmeric and salt. I spread it in the pan. Our Karela fry is ready to be served with rice or chapati.
Though it was not crisper as I wanted it too. But it the mix of onion and the bitter taste of karela is worth of a try. For this entire cooking I made use of :
- Bitter Gourd / Karela - 4 pcs
- Cummin seeds - 1/2 teaspoonful
- Mustard oil - 3 Spoon
- Onion Bulbs ( as per individuals liking)
- Pinch of turmeric (rituals at every Indian kitchen)
- Salt to taste.
I cooked it for two. I never cooked karela before but did loved eating it much. This one does not have a different taste and I liked it too. Do try it if you are a karela lover.
In good faith - Peace!!
