Bitter gourd fry

Well, not in oil though as the title might mislead you:-) As we started getting conscious about our diet and eating habits, so did new ways of cooking emerge......doing away with deep fry and yet maintaining almost the same flavour. Feels healthy and tastes great too!

Bitter gourd used to be a strict 'NO WAY  list' veggie for me before marriage but my MIL used to make this lovely deep fry cutting them into thin round slices and mixing them with spices and besan flour(கடலை மாவு)....Obviously, no one would say NO, to such a treat. I took a liking to this veggie, made this way and later realised it was not helping me with my weight...:-( Thus was born this diet பாவக்கா (bitter gourd) fry...

Bitter Gourd

Ingredients:

- 2 big bitter gourd, de-seeded and finely chopped

- 1/2 tsp chilly powder

- 1/8 tsp turmeric powder

- 1/8 tsp hing (asafoetida / பெருங்காயம் )

- 1 tsp rice flour

- 1 tsp besan flour
- a sprinkle of jaggery

- Salt to taste

Prep time: 10 mins         Cook time: 20 mins

Preparation:

- Wash and slit the bitter gourd in half and de-seed. Finely chop the bitter gourd and place it in a bowl

Chopped and mixed with the spices

- To the chopped veggie, add the chilly powder, turmeric, hing, rice flour, besan flour and salt and mix well them well.
- In a non-stick or anodised pan, heat 2 tsp oil and add 1 tsp urad dhal and 1/4 tsp mustard and let them splatter.
- Now, add the bitter gourd and give it a toss. Turn the heat to medium-low and stir it around every 4-5 mins.
- Do not cover and cook. The curry would get sticky if you do that.
- When they are well cooked and fried, sprinkle some jaggery and toss it about a minute before removing the curry to your serving dish!

Ready to Serve:-)