Bittergourd , a vegetable hated by many for its taste, but there are many who like this vegetable’s natural taste. I love bittergourd, when cooked perfectly it tastes amazing, pavakai pitalai being my absolute favorite.
I also love a simple pavakai/bitter-gourd curry with coconut and chilies, paired with rasam rice it tastes delish.
Sometime back, i tried making bittergourd by resting it with salt and then cooking it , which makes the bitter-gourd more palatable.
After trying bittergourd this way, this is the only recipe i follow to make bittergourd. Though it looks a bit tedious process, once you get a hold of it, you can make it in minutes.
I tried making this bitter-gourd masala for my hubby’s dabba, just to check whether it is possible to do, in the morning rush. Yes, it takes around 45 minutes, including the 20 minutes resting of the veggie and shallow-frying it.
You can pair this bittergourd masala with roti or serve it along with rice and rasam.
Let us see what all you need to make this subzi,
Bitter-Gourd, 2 long bitter-gourds, which weighs 250 grams, pith removed.
Onion & Tomatoes, onions are optional. Tomatoes gives the curry/subzi the semi-gravy consistency, if tomatoes are avoided it will be like a dry roast.
Spices, Sambar powder , as it is one of the easily available spice mix in most of the south-indian kitchen.
You can also use equal quantities of red chili and coriander ground together instead of sambar powder.
Curry leaves and Coriander leaves, do not miss these flavor imparting greens. Curry leaves in tadka and coriander as garnish takes the subzi to another level.
How to make Bittergourd masala/Bittergourd subzi with onions and tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 nos Bittergourds/bittermelons Weighs around 250 grams when pith is removed and chopped
- 1 no large onion finely chopped
- 2 no medium tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 tsp sambar powder or use red chili and coriander powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
Tempering
- 1/4 cup oil any vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds/kadugu
- 1/8 tsp hing/asafoetida
- a sprig of curry leaf
Instructions
- Wash the bittergourd and cut them horizontally into two and then again vertically into two, remove the pith inside. slice them into roundels.
- Once cut, sprinkle salt on them and let it rest for a minimum of 20 minutes. While the bittergourd is resting, let us prep the onions and tomatoes.
- Chop onions and tomatoes fine. Once the bittergourd has rested for 20 minutes, strain it and give it a quick wash in running water and let it drain completely.
- In a wide pan, Add oil, add the bittergourd in batches and shallow fry. i did it 2 batches, do not crowd the pan, you can also deep fry it, but i preferred to shallow fry.
- Let the bittergourd, sizzle and shrink a bit and get a golden brown on them, once done, remove it with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
- In the same pan, add mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves, when the mustard splutter, add the chopped onions and saute until translucent.
- Next add the tomatoes now to this add turmeric powder, salt and sambhar powder and mix well. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover and cook for 5 minutes, for the tomatoes to cook well and turn mushy.
- Remove the cover and if the tomatoes are done, add the fried bittergourd to this and mix well.
- Let it sit on the stove for another 3-5 minutes for the flavors to mingle. The consistency should be of a semi-gravy. You can also make this complete dry curry, just let it sit on the stove until the liquid is absorbed.
- Take it off the stove, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve along with rice/roti.
I served it part of this delicious thali meal for a weekday lunch. The thali has Rice with ghee, Chana dal Tomato-garlic rasam and karela.
I am actually no fan of bittergourd and have never cooked with this vegetable in my life… hehe… I seem to like how this sabzi looks so may try it someday…
Thank you rafee, yes the bitterness is much less in this method, do try!
Would love to try this Indian dish! Looks so delicious and filling! Great recipe here!
We all love bitter gourd in our house and grow a ton of it in summer. I have made pitalai and dry curry, but have never made them like a masala with onions and tomatoes. I will make this recipe soon.
Bitter gourd masala curry looks delicious. We too make it almost similar way in onion and tomato masala with basic spices.
Lata Lala recently posted…Jackfruit Idli Recipe | Panasa idli | Kathal idli
This recipe makes me want to camp in your kitchen, too. lol. What a great tasting dinner and thanks so much for sharing.
Delicious bittergourd curry Priya. We love bittergourd any which way it is cooked – even my little one started to try it (older one won’t touch it). My MIL leaves the salted bittergourd pieces in the fridge overnight. You could probably do that to make it cook faster in the morning.
Pavani recently posted…Watermelon Banana Juice Recipe | Summer Refresher
Bittergourd is usually cooked by slitting and filling them with some spices coupled with onion…But this is time consuming. Yours is an instant version and worth saving time.
Shailender Sharma recently posted…Auria recipe | jammu special auria | how to make dogri recipe auria
I like the details in your recipe Priya and also the texture in the dish with the soft onion tomato gravy and crispy fried bittergourd!
Sandhya Nadkarni recently posted…Air Fryer Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque
Bitter gourd is one of my favorite vegetables. Nowadays I miss those vegetables. Your bitter gourd masala curry looks yummy.
Bittergourd is a one of my favourite vegetable and I just made a fry with it yesterday…Your masala gravy looks super tempting…Yummy
Padma Veeranki recently posted…Eggless Vanilla Cake Recipe Without Condensed Milk | Pressure Cooker Cake Recipe | Vanilla Sponge Cake Recipe
Never added sambhar masala in bitter gourd . It looks so yummy and I love bitter gourd so will definitely try it.
I love Bitter gourd curry. I make using the tamarind extract. Your method sounds great. Will try.
Lathiya recently posted…Cheese Quesadilla recipe with Fresh tomato salsa
Bitter gourd masala curry looks delicious.
Use of sambar masala must lend to a lovely flavor here along with the onion and tomato masala Priya !
Sasmita recently posted…Watermelon Pizza with assorted Fruits & Chocolates
Karela with sambhar masala powder is new to me, sounds so good and looks tasty. Must try this one day.
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Bitter gourd curry looks really tempting. At my home, me and my husband is a big fan of bitter gourd and usually make it in a bharwa style with onion & with basic spices. I’ve never tasted this onion-tomato curry style. Addition of sambar masala sounds so interesting!!
Jolly recently posted…Rava Cake | How to make Sooji Atta Cake | Semolina Cake(Eggless)
One of the best and healthy recipe
Great recipe thank you for sharing this