Bitter gourd + Onion subzi with gram flour - a zunka of sorts with my favorite vegetable

Olympics games in Rio come to a close :-(, another 4 years of wait for the next round of heart warming sportsmanship, rush of medals, breath taking competition.. I am not a huge sports fan, there are select games that I enjoy watching and when it is Olympics, gymnastics catches all my attention. I had fun watching the US women's team and the fabulous girls that not only bagged the medals but also stole hearts of the viewers. This year, I also closely followed the badminton finals :-). Since it was during work hours, I had to satisfy myself my periodic updates and not really watching the game. 2016 games are memorable also because of the 3 unassuming girls from my home country that had an entire nation rally behind them, each playing a different sport, each from a different region of India, but each one showing what true sportsmanship was, here is to Sakshi, Deepa, Sindhu and Aditi, may they continue their passion in the games.

For the past week, all my social media feeds have been abuzz with the stories, jokes, controversies and news of how the girls are saving the Indian subcontinent from shame in the games, they secured not one but two medals in the games, the only two that Indian team got to take home. Every time some one speaks about gender inequality, I think of my father. Growing up between 2 completely boyish brothers and an older sister, he never for once treated us any differently than his boys. I got lucky in marriage too. I think my personal experiences sometimes make me blind and gives me the false sense that girls are treated equal to boys all over. Whenever the discussions happen, my first reaction is disbelief and then I cringe if someone talks derogatively of girls/women. Hopefully the recent accomplishments of these achievers will help a generation of girls and women back home and every where else too.

I have something yummy today (as always :-)), made with a vegetable that doesn't have a very huge fan following. I am an exception and so is BH, we both love, love the bitter gourd. If you are not convinced of our love for this veggie, look up the recipes on this blog to find the variations I make with this vegetable, there are already too many of them to list. But I understand completely when people say no to anything that spells bitter gourd in the list, it is bitter and not many people like the taste, I get it. So, why am I posting another recipe with the same vegetable again? Hmmm, let me think.. oh I know, it is because I am sure I will have some converts when you taste this recipe, it is that good.

Don't believe me? here is a simple anecdote, the parents do not like the bitter gourd at all, I have never seen amma buy it or make anything with it. They are very sweet and polite though and slyly avoid the dish if I make something with it. So, normally at home, I will make an additional choice of vegetables if bitter gourd is on the menu. Now that the inlaws are visiting, I always remember this rule of additional non bitter vegetable :-). But a couple of months back when I made this dish, the entire content vanished right infront of my eyes and nobody even seemed to care for the other item on the menu (I don't even remember what that was). Thinking about it, I was convinced that the other item was so bad that made the bitter gourd recipe a better choice. But I made it the second time to see the same results and then realized that they infact liked it. So I have 2 converts at home now and I have made it more than a couple of times in the past few months.

Zunka/Junka is a dry subzi from North Karnataka and Maharashtra regions in India. This is a preferred side dish for the jowar (pearl millet) rotis. It is easier to make, stays good for a couple of days and easy to pack for travels. Zunka is made with just onions or spring onions and then there are a few versions of zunkas with bell pepper too. The hero of the dish is gram flour and the whole idea is that you make a side dish without a vegetable. But I added bitter gourd and onion in almost equal proportions, I like the crunchiness that onions impart while also further reducing the bitterness of the dish. But the treatment to the cilantro takes this recipe to a new height, don't sprinkle or garnish cilantro on top after the dish is made but add it to the hot oil so it leaves the flavors and aroma right into the dish. Go ahead, try it and let me know how you liked it.

I won't hold you to use the same proportions I have below, look at this recipe more as a 'method' than as the exact proportions. You can tailor it to your liking. Here is the ratio of ingredients I prefer, change it any way you like. 1 cup chopped bitter gourd, 3/4 cup chopped onion, 3/4 cup gram flour, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro. Rest of the ingredients according to taste :-). The idea is to have enough gram flour to coat every bite of bitter gourd and complement the bitterness of the gourd with an equal amount of sweet onions.

What do you need? 
3 medium bitter gourds/haagalakaayi/kaakarakaya = 2 cups chopped
1.5 cups thinly sliced onions
1.5 cups gram flour/besan
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
5 Tbsp oil (Oops, this is one recipe I won't advise skimping on oil)
a quarter size tamarind
1/8 Tsp turmeric powder
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1-2 green chilies (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp mustard
1/4 Tsp cumin
1/4 Tsp asafoetida (be generous, it enhances flavor and also helps digestion)

How do you make? 

• Wash and pat dry bitter gourds. Remove the two ends and scrape the skin lightly with a peeler.
• Slit the gourds vertically and scoop out all the seeds from the center. 
• Discard the peeled skin and seeds and gently wash the gourds. 
• Cut each half further vertically and chop into thin slices. You can chop the gourds any shape and size you like but this works well for me. 

• Take a microwave safe bowl, add the pieces into it, add water so the pieces are all submerged in water along with turmeric, tamarind and 1/4 Tsp of salt. MW it for 6-8 minutes or until the pieces are fork tender. 
• Take it out and let it stand for 15 mins before straining out all the water, pick out the tamarind pieces and discard. Squeeze the gourd pieces to remove any extra water and keep aside. 
• Remove the stalks of chilies and cut them into small roundels.
• Heat a non stick kadhai/pan, add 2 tbsp of oil. 
• Add mustard, cumin, and asafoetida and let the seeds pop. Add the green chilies and let them cook for about 30 secs.

• Add most of the chopped cilantro (keeping a spoonful for garnish) into the hot oil and fold it in. 
• Add the sliced onions along with the remaining salt and let it sweat a bit until onions are soft. You do not need to brown them. 

• Add the gram flour and mix it well with onions & cilantro. 
• Add the cooked bitter gourd pieces. 

• Mix everything together until well combined, add the remaining 3 Tbsp of oil, cover the pan, reduce heat to low and let cook for about 12 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes to avoid burning. 
• After about 12 minutes, you get the nice cooked smell of gram flour and the mixture in the pan seems light when you stir/fold it. 

• You can even taste and check for salt at this stage and also confirm gram flour has lost its raw smell. 
• Switch off, garnish with remaining cilantro. Serve warm with roti or rice. 

Notes: 

• Use tender bitter gourds that are green and firm to touch.

• I am ok with the MW technology for short durations, if you don't use MW go ahead and cook the pieces on stove top until tender. 
• I like to keep onions and bitter gourds about the same size and shape, someone it makes the distribution even and aesthetically good :-)
• You can use 1/2 - 3/4 Tsp red chili powder instead of green chilies. 
• Using non stick pan helps reduce the oil usage a bit and also ensures that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. 
• Pre cooking bitter gourd with turmeric, tamarind & salt reduces the bitterness, so does the scraping of the skin and the double washing. 
• If you don't have cilantro in the fridge, use curry leaves chopped fine. My preference is for cilantro and especially when it is blistered in the hot oil, it leaves the aroma that lifts the dish a notch up. 

Haagalakayi gojju - bitter gourd in a sesame flavored, tangy, spicy, slightly sweet sauce

Here I am today with one of my favorite vegetables cooked in my favorite way :-), this is nammamma's signature haagalakayi (bitter gourd) dish. I am sure I have professed my love for this bitter veggie on the blog here, here & here but I kept the best to later (not last, there are many other ways to cook this delicious veggie and I will introduce them to you over time). I know many people shy away from eating bitter gourd, it is an acquired taste but once you catch on, you are hooked and it is a never diminishing love story.

How many of you are readers? What kind of books do you read - fiction, non fiction, historical, scientific... I am so habituated to fall asleep only after reading some pages, no amount of web browsing brings me the kind of satisfaction and happiness that an old, wrinkled book in my hand does. Over the years, my taste in books have changed and the genre I read have morphed. I have some favorites that I go back to without fail after a decent gap :-). While in school, influenced heavily by nammamma's reading, I was a fan of Bengali literature. One of my uncles is well known in Kannada literary field and has translated a short stories collection from Bengali to Kannada. Most of these books were set in pre-independence India, of middle class or lower middle class struggles. Sharath chandra chattopadhyay was one of my favorite authors, it felt like all his women had strong characters and yet vulnerable in a very appealing sort of way. It must be my generation, I tried to feed the story to my 'Harry Potter' devouring daughter once and she had this incredulous look of disbelief about the story line on her face :-), I guess she just couldn't relate to it, not at her age atleast, either that or I made a very sorry attempt at bringing Sharat's novels to life by my limited imagination.

Why did I jump from bitter gourd to Sharat novels? here is why.. One of his very famous books is called 'Biraj Bahu', it is about this very sweet couple who have been married since they were little kids, are soul mates and go through many pains and pleasures in life with pain taking the upper hand. The story begins at the peak pf prosperity with bustling family home, happy joint family, multi coursed meals and lot of visible wealth but as the downhill becomes evident, they don't have much to eat on a daily basis. They become poor as the husband trusts everyone including a half brother who takes control of all the family fortune. So one of the days, the wife goes out and all she can find are a couple of bitter gourds, she brings it home and cooks something out of it and makes an excuse that she is not well at lunch time so she doesn't have to serve it to her husband. Only her sympathetic sister in law understands why she won't sit next to her husband during lunch time. To set this in context to anyone that don't relate - those were the generations when wives dutifully sat by the husband as they ate, serving them, making sure they were fed well, for her to give up her wifely privilege would have been akin to doing the 'unheard of'. It is a really emotionally charged and sad scene but every time I read it (yes, I read it more than once) my bitter gourd crazy mind would be asking the wife, "what is wrong with you woman? Go & enjoy the haagalakayi with your husband" :-) which totally broke the seriousness of the novel. Every time I make hagalakayi, I remember Biraj Bahu. Fortunately for me, my BH is as much in love with this gourd as I am and so we make it often and without feeling sorry for anyone except the gourd itself, we enjoy our food.

Here is a gojju that you will fall in love whether you like bitter gourd generally or not. Both nammamma and chikkamma(aunt) make this very deliciously albeit with certain differences of their own. Nammamma chops the bitter gourd very finely, doesn't peel the skin, makes it a slightly gravy gojju. Chikkamma cuts them into bigger pieces, cooks for a verrrrrry long time and brings it to an almost sticky, soft gum consistency. I like them both ways but like nammamma's version better :-) as it works well for both mixing with rice or as a dip for dosa, rotti etc.

You can use either white or black sesame seeds but the black ones give a stronger flavor and darker, more traditional color to the gojju. I used the black ones today.

Other than as a side dip that I can lick, I love to eat this gojju mixed with hot rice, a couple of drops of oil and a side of chopped onions, yummmm. Here is my lunch box for tomorrow - seasoned yogurt rice topped with haagalakayi gojju, I will think of you all when I eat it :-), have a great weekend and I will see you next week.

What do you need for Haagalakayi gojju?
4-5 medium sized bitter gourd/haagalakayi
Big gooseberry sized tamarind
1/2 Tsp grated/crushed jaggery/bella
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1/4 Tsp turmeric powder
3 Tbsp shredded coconut
To roast: 
1 Tbsp chana dal/kadle bele
1 Tsp coriander
1/2 Tsp cumin
4-6 black pepper
1.5 Tbsp sesame seeds/ellu (black/white)
4-5 red chilies
For seasoning: 
3 Tbsp oil
1 Tsp mustard
2 dry red chilies (broken into pieces)
1/8 Tsp Asafoetida
8-10 curry leaves

How do you make Haagalakayi gojju? 

• Wash, pat dry and chop off the ends of the bitter gourd. 
• Cut them in half vertically, remove all the seeds, cut them into thin strips and chop into tiny bits. 

• Dry roast all ingredients under 'To roast' except for sesame seeds for 4-6 minutes on medium heat.
• When the chana dal starts to turn light pink, add sesame seeds and continue to roast.
• Continue roasting until sesame starts to pop, set aside to cool. 
• Once cold, grind it into a thick chutney consistency along with coconut. Keep aside until ready to use. 
• Soak tamarind in water for 20-30 minutes and extract the juice, discarding the pith and seeds. See notes for a quick & easy way to get the tamarind juice. 
• In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds and let them start to pop. 
• Add asafoetida powder, broken red chilies, curry leaves and give a mix. 
• After 10 seconds when the red chilies start to turn crisp and bright red, add the finely chopped bitter gourd. 
• Add salt and turmeric, mix well, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for about 15-20 minutes. 

• Stir a couple of times in between and continue to cook until the pieces become soft and lose the raw bitterness. 
• Add the tamarind juice, continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes until the juice reduces, thickens and loses the raw smell. 

• Add the ground masala, jaggery and about a cup of water to thin it down, adjust salt and let it boil without covering for 7-8 minutes. 

• Keep stirring in between ensuring the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom, the sauce will thicken and you will start to see oil leaving the sides. 
• Switch off, let cool completely before storing in dry, air tight containers. 
• This gojju will stay fresh for upto a week if refrigerated. 

Notes: 

• I add about quarter to half cup to cover the tamarind in a microwave safe bowl and zap it for 30-45 secs. Let it stand for a minute before squishing the softened tamarind and extracting the thick juice. 
• I use my heavy gauge aluminium pan for curries with tamarind or tomatoes instead of the cast iron or non stick pan to avoid chemical reactions. 
• You need to add water along with the ground masala, else the thick mixture will start sticking to the bottom before it has a chance to cook.

• Instead of fresh coconut, you can use desiccated or dry coconut (kobbari/kopra), this enhances the shelf life of gojju. 
• I gave jaggery a slip today but the gojju tasted awesome. 
• If you want to be completely rid of the bitterness of the gourd, mix the chopped pieces with a few drops of oil, pinch of salt and turmeric, keep aside for 15 minutes and then wash it under running water. Squeeze the wet pieces to remove any water before using them.
• You can also lightly scrape the top skin of the gourd to mellow down the bitterness. 

Bittergourd Raita - Addition to my BG recipes

We went on a slightly extended (Monday off) weekend trip to California to visit near & dear ones. DD had a great time with her cousins and was not in any mood to come back home as did we :-) but come we did and are back at work since yesterday. That explains my infrequent visits and comments on your spaces lately, hope to catch up on all the yummy posts out there quickly this week.

Today is another Blog hop Wednesday post and I am really enjoying my trysts with hitherto unknown blogs because of this event. Radhika paired me with Roshni of Roshni's kitchen this time and I have been going back and forth on what I would make from her blog as I found so many interesting recipes :-). Roshni, you have a wonderful space and I will definitely be trying out other recipes in the near future.

For today though I chose Roshni's bitter gourd raita since it had 2 of my favorite ingredients - bitter gourd and coconut :-). I make a similar raita with okra but never thought of making it with bitter gourd. Thanks for the recipe Roshni, this is a keeper definitely. We all enjoyed the crispy bitter gourd in cool yogurt.

Here is Roshni's bitter gourd raita with slight modifications. I made the frying of bitter gourd oil free and hands free by baking it instead of pan frying.

What do you need to make bitter gourd raita? 
2 medium sized bitter gourds
1 Tblsp grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
1 Tsp cumin seeds
2 green chilis
3/4 cup yogurt
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
For Seasoning:
1 Tblsp oil
1 small shallot or red onion - about 1.5 Tblsp thinly chopped
1 Tsp mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1/8 Tsp asafoetida

How do you make bitter gourd raita?

• Wash and lightly scrape the ridge of bitter gourd, remove the ends and cut into thin disks.
• If the bitter gourd is big and has seeds inside, you can scoop out the seeds from the disks easily with a slight push using fingers. If the gourd is tender, skip this step. 
• Spread the cut bitter gourd in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake for an hour (or until it crisps up) at 350F removing it once at 30 minutes to flip them over. 
• Grind coconut, green chilies, salt and cumin into a a coarse paste with a Tblsp of water and then add the yogurt and blend into a smooth paste. 
• Heat a Tblsp of oil, add asafoetida, mustard and curry leaves. Let the mustard splutter, add the chopped onions and fry  till it softens. 

• Mix the baked crispy bitter gourd rings, ground paste and fried seasoning in a bowl, let it sit for 10 minutes and enjoy with rice or roti. 

Notes: 

• If you are not a fan of the bitterness of the gourd, mix the cut pieces in a Tsp oil, pinch of turmeric and 1/2 Tsp salt, keep aside for 30 minutes. Wash and use. This reduces the bitterness a lot. 
• Peeling the outer ridges reduces the bitterness of the dish. 

This yummy bitter gourd raita goes to Radhika's Blog Hope Wednesday

Pappula podi - one powder, multiple uses

I have a lot to write about the recipes (yes, two of them), so I will cut short on my usual general rant.

Bitter gourd or haagala kayi is one of my favorite vegetables. We infact love this gourd in any conceivable avatar and I almost always bring home this vegetable from my vegetable shopping sprees. If you are a fan of this bitter melon, try this version of the stuffed gourd. You will find an equally delicious variation already posted here. The last one had a slightly wet onion masala in it while this is a dryer version with a delicious powder.

South Indian kitchens have an array of spice powders that serve any and all occasions from chutni pudi which a one spoon oil away from a delicious chutney to the various sambar, rasam, bhath powders which make any side dish or rice item worth every penny on it. Today's powder is a very simple recipe with few ingredients yet very flavorful and comes in handy in a variety of dishes. This consummate powder can enhance the taste of your curries and snacks.

So let us get to the powder first and then I will show you one of the delicious ways I use it. For lack of a better name, I call it Kadle pudi or pappula podi ~ a generic name for a powder made with dals.

What do you need to make the powder? 
2 cups kadle/fried gram also called chutney dal - See notes for additional description on this
4-5 dry red chilies (adjust to suit your taste)
2 Tblsp grated dry coconut (kobbari in Kannada)
1 Tsp cumin seeds
1/4 Tsp asafoetida powder
3/4 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

How do you make the powder?
Heat a thick bottom pan on medium heat, put the kadle and the red chilies in it and fry for 2 minutes. Add grated dry coconut and fry for a minute. Switch off, add cumin seeds and let cool. Take all ingredients into the blender and grind it into a fine powder.

Transfer to an airtight container and use it as needed.

Notes: 

• Frying the dal makes it crispy, if you have sunshine make use of it and spread the dal in a single layer and sun dry until crispy. 
• Add cumin seeds after switching off the stove as it will burn otherwise, if you are sun drying the dal then toast the cumin in a pan for a minute and half.
• If you love garlic, add a clove to the above proportion - toast it for a minute until it loses the moisture and grind it with the dal. 

Now that we have the powder ready, here is one of the ways I use it in my curries, try this version of stuffed bitter gourd for a delicious meal. 

What do you need to make stuffed bitter gourd? 

5-6 small fresh, tender bitter gourds - use Indian bitter gourds (big Chinese bitter gourds tend to become soft and does not hold shape in this recipe)

1 cup of the dal powder (see above) or alternatively one cup of basan/gram flour

3/4 cup cup finely chopped onions
1/4 Tsp asafoetida powder

4 Tblsp cooking oil divided
1 Tsp mustard
2-4 curry leaves - roughly chopped

1 Tsp salt - adjust to taste and remember the dal powder has salt in it

How do you make stuffed bitter gourd? 

• Wash, pat dry bitter gourds and trim the ends.
• Lightly scrape the skin and save it.
• Make a vertical slit in the bitter gourd from top to bottom but ensure that the bitter gourd stays in one piece giving access for stuffing the masala. 
• With the help of the back of a spoon, scoop out the seeds from the bitter gourds. 
• Reserve one heaped Tblsp of the scrapped peels and one heaped Tblsp of tender seeds (see notes) for the masala. Remember the peels add to the bitterness and seeds give a crunchiness and bite. 
• Heat 2 Tblsp oil in a pan on medium heat, add asafoetida, mustard and curry leaves. Let mustard sizzle, add chopped onions and fry till it sweats and turns pink. 
• Add the reserved bitter gourd peels and seeds and fry on medium hear for 3-4 minutes until the peels soften. 
• Add the powder and adjust salt to taste. Mix everything together. If using plain gram flour/basan, continue to fry for 5 minutes until the raw smell of the flour is gone. If using the above prepared powder, fry for just a minute until everything is combined and switch off the stove. 

• Once the stuffing is cool enough to handle, scoop spoonfuls into the cut bitter gourds and stuff them well. Tie a thread horizontally around the stuffed bitter gourd to keep it from spilling. Reserve any left over stuffing. 

• Heat a wide heavy bottom pan, add the remaining 2 Tblsp of oil. 
• Now arrange the stuffed bitter gourds in a single layer in the pan with the slit side on top, cover the pan and cook for 6-8 minutes. The moisture collected drops on to the bitter gourd and helps it cook well.

• Uncover, turn the biter gourds over to the other side and cook for another 6-8 minutes 
• Uncover the pan and continue to turn and cook the bitter gourds until they are lightly browned from all sides. Add any remaining stuffing 2-3 minutes before switching off the pan and let it cook (adding earlier burns this semi-dry powder and spoils the taste of the dish)

• Remove the threads and enjoy the delicious stuffed bitter gourds with rice or rotis. 

Notes: 

• Choose bitter gourds that are slightly plump but tender, this makes it easier to stuff the stuffing.
• Use white colored, thin seeds for the masala, discard if the seeds are plump and red colored.
• Darker green bitter gourds are comparatively more bitter than the white variety.
• Gram flour in the stuffing is also very tasty if you just want to use it or you can use 1/2 cup each of gram flour and the powder. 
• Since the powder has red chilies and cumin, it is more flavorful. If you are using only gram flour add a Tsp of red chili powder. 
• This recipe does not have any bitterness at all, I have made it multiple times. If you are a hesitant entry into the bitter gourd world, reduce the amount of peels you use.