Bhatt ka jaulaa /भट्ट का जौला( Polenta of Black Turtle Beans)

Bhatt ka jaulaa / Black Turtle Beans Polenta with spicy salt mix. 

Black Turtle Beans/Bhatt are quintessential part of Kumaoni cuisine. In fact in the kitchen of Uttarakhand Bhatt (black turtle beans), Gahat (horse gram /Macrotyloma uniflorum), foxtail millet (maduwa/madwa/nachani),barnyardmillet (madir/manir/jhingora), are always present. These are used to make delectable dishes. Bhatt ka jaulaa /black turtle beans Polenta is one of them. 

The botanical name of Bhatt /kala ghevda / black turtle beans /karuppu is Phaseolus Vulgaris. It is also popular in Latin American, Canjun, Spanish, Portuguese cuisine. 

In kumaon Bhatt is used to make Dubke (डुबके), Rasg-gude (रस और गूदे), chudkani (चुड़कानी) for main course which are taken with steamed rice. 

Bhatt are also dry roasted till they splutter and are eaten as snack with spicy salt mix made by grinding herbs-salt-green chillies together. 

The nutty flavor of roasted Bhatt is amazing. 

Different people use different ratio of Bhatt and rice. I prefer Bhatt and rice ratio 1:1 or bhatt slightly more. Make it in iron wok /cast iron wok for authentic flavor and increased iron content in jaulaa. Polenta is a one pot wonder meal and this Polenta can be called one pot super food. 

Preparation Time : 

Soaking black turtle beans (bhatt) overnight 

Soaking Rice : 30 minutes 

Grinding Time : 5 minutes 

Cooking Time : 2 hrs (approx) 

Servings : 6 large servings 

Nutritional value of Bhatt Ka jaulaa (Made from 100 gm Bhatt and 100 gm rice) :

Energy : 261 calories 

Proteins : 11.74 gm

Carbs : 51.7gm

Dietary fibers : 9.1 gm

Fats : 1.0 gm

Cholesterol : 0 

Sugar : 0.37 gm

Sodium : 470 mg 

Potassium : 377 mg 

Iron: 2.10 mg

Calcium : 27 mg 

Magnesium : 70 mg 

Phosphorus : 140 mg

Zinc : 1.2mg

Rich in Vitamins :

A

B1

B2

B3

B6

Folates (B9)

Ingredients for making Bhatt ka jaulaa (Black Turtle beans Polenta) 

• Bhatt (black turtle beans) : 100 gm
• Rice : 100 gm.
• 2 Teaspoons Rice flour 
• Water for cooking 

Directions for Making Bhatt ka Jaulaa :

• Wash bhatt nicely. Take washed Bhatt in a big bowl and soak them in water for 6-8 hours. I soak them overnight if making jaulaa for lunch. 
• Wash and soak rice for atleast 30 minutes. If soaked longer it will do but donot soak it overnight. 

Soaked rice 

• Drain water from soaked Bhatt. Keep water aside, donot throw it. 
• In a grinder-mixer grind the soaked Bhatt to coarse thick paste, adding water in little amounts. 

Paste of Bhatt / black turtle beans 

• Keep remaining water for cooking. It is rich in nutrients. 
• Pulse soaked rice for a minute or two to break rice into small pieces. 
• Take a iron /cast iron preferably, in absence of iron /cast iron wok take any thick bottomed deep container for cooking. 
• Put soaked pulsed rice with 200 ml. water and start heating on high heat with occasional stirring. 

Soaked rice cooking 

• Once water comes to boil reduce heat to low and cook till the rice is semi cooked. It will take nearly 10 minutes. 

Semi cooked rice 

• Add Bhatt paste and 200 ml water and mix nicely. 
• Bring heat to high and keep stirring not allowing anything to settle at the bottom. 

Bhatt paste and water added to semi cooked rice 

• Once the whole thing starts boiling bring the heat to low. 
• Now starts process of cooking on low heat, stirring and adding water in small amounts.

Bhatt paste and semi cooked rice cooking together 

• Keep cooking for atleast for an hour more adding water 100 ml at one time and stirring it so that contents do not settle at the bottom and get burnt 
• Keep scrapping the sides also while stirring so that deposit on the sides do not become dry and hard. 
• By and large in one hour cooking almost 750 ml. water will get used. 

After almost an hour 

• The rice and beans paste will be cooked soft and nice. Rice grains will be broken nicely. 
• Add 2 teaspoons rice flour and mix nicely. 
• Add 1 teaspoon salt and 50 ml. water. Cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes with continuous stirring. 

Creamy textured Bhatt ka Jaulaa 

• Salt is added in less amount because in kumaon Bhatt jaulaa is eaten with Chatpata lahsuniya namak (spicy salt mix) made by grinding salt-garlic/duna-green chilies-fresh coriander leafs. 
• If one wants then after switching off heat spicy salt can be added according to the taste and then covered to cool. No cooking to be done after adding spicy salt mix to preserve raw taste of garlic-green chilies - coriander leafs. 
• Switch off the heat and cover the wok nicely. 
• Black Turtle Beans-rice Polenta / Bhatt ka jaulaa is ready. 

Bhatt ka jaulaa /Black Turtle Beans Polenta 

• Heat before serving. 
• Enjoy Bhatt ka jaulaa with spicy salt mix. I love besan ke Dubke (plain kadi) as accompaniment with jaulaa along with lahsuniya chatpata namak. 

Bhatt ka jaulaa with spicy salt mix 

Chatpata Lahsuniya Namak (Spicy Salt Mix) :

• Salt:  5 teaspoon
• Garlic : 5 medium size pods 
• Green Chilies : 3-4 depending upon their hotness and your tolerance to spice
• Coriander Sprigs : 5-6
• Clean all ingredients (except salt) wash and pat dry them. Roughly chop them. 
• In a grinder-mixer take salt and Chopped ingredients. Pulse till nice smooth paste is obtained. Do not add water. 
• Alternately mortar-pestle can be used to make salt mix. I prefer mortar-pestle. 
• Enjoy the chatpata lahsuniya namak (Spicy salt mix) with jaulaa. 

Tips: 

• Preferably take small grain rice. 
• If rice is long or thick grained then pulse the soaked rice to break the grains to smaller pieces. Do not overdo pulsing else paste will be formed giving glugy texture to jaulaa /Polenta. 
• Rice and coarse paste of beans should be slow cooked to give nice soft uniform Polenta. 
• Donot add lots of water at one go, add 100 ml or so at one time, stirring is very important. 
• Do not add salt before whole thing is cooked else milk of beans will get split. 
• Cooking rice first to release it's starch is important, the starch mixes with milk of Bhatt paste and avoids it from splitting. 

Suggested Variations :

• Rice:black turtle beans can be changed to 1.5:1 instead of 1:1.
• Required amount of chatpata lahsuniya salt can be added once the heat is switched off. 
• 3-4 teaspoons of ghee (clarified butter) can be added in four installments of one teaspoon while cooking Polenta. This will increase the creamy texture of jaulaa /Polenta and add flavor to it. I do not add it to keep jaulaa /Polenta fat less. 
• Some people do not like raw flavor of garlic so garlic can be avoided in spicy salt. 
• In kumaon duna / garlic chive (a herb of uttarakhand) is used along with greeny chilies. Along with garlic chives coriander springs are not required. 
• In many households small grinding stone (sil - batta /सील - बट्टा) are yet used. Spicy salt mix is yet made on it in kumaon. 

Gajar-Methi ki sabzi (Carrot-Fenugreek leaf vegetable)

Gajar - Methi ki sabzi 

Come winters and in Indian subcontinent market is flodded with Red juicy carrots(Gajar) and fresh green methi (fenugreek leafs). In most of the places methi is ssold in bunches, but many places we get pickied leafs of methi by weight. What ever the way we get it, the green and red color of methi and carrot compliment each other exactly in the same way as the sweet taste of carrot and slightly bitterish taste of methi compliment erach other.
Gajar-Methi ki sabzi is an Indian vegetarian savory packed with micronutrients and dietary fibers. It is normally paired with Roti /parantha. I love to have with dal-chawal (boiled rice and pulses).
Diabetic people who cannot consume potatoes, this vegetable preparation is excellent substitute to aloo-Methi.
Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serving: 4 large servings

Nutritional Value: (Approx. values) for vegetable made from 200g methi leafs and 100 g carrots.
170 Cal
28g Carbs
10g Protien
15g Dietary Fibers
140mg Sodium
12g Sugars
10g Fats
200mg Calcium+
5mg Iron+
1070mg Potassium+
12066IU Vitamin A+
110mg Vitamin C+

Ingredients Required For making Methi-Gajar Ki Sabzi:

• 200 gm Cleaned Fresh Methi Leafs (Approx. 1 thick bunch)
• 100 gm Carrots (Preferably red carrots not orange one)
• 10 ml. Cooking oil (I use Mustard oil)
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 1 Whole red chili
• 1Pinch Hing(Aesafotida)
• Salt To Taste

Direction For Making Gajar-Methi Ki sabzi:

• Wash the clesaned methi leafs in flowing water. Transfer the washed methi leafs in a sieve and allow all water to strain from it.
• Wash and cut the carrots to small pieces.

Chopped Carrot 

• Chop washed methi leaves finely.

Chopped Methi 

• In a thick bottom wok take oil and heat on high flame (do not heat it to smoking state). To the hot oil 
• Add 
• Cumin seeds
• Red chili
• Hing 
• When thr seeds have spluttered and red chili color changes wonderful oroma of tempering will come. Add carrot and bring hr heat to medium and cook till carrotspieces loose there shape and color changes. (Carrot pieces will shrink.)

Carrots added to the tempered oil 

Carrots cooked

• Add chopped methi leafs. Mix Nicely and cook on high flame for 1 minute.

Methi added to cooked carrots

• Add salt and mix.
• Cover and cook on low heat with intermittent stirring for 3-4 minutes. Methi leafs will wilt and will look a bit more darker. This is the state at which the heat should be switteched off. Cover and allow the vegetable to cook in the steam and residual heat.

After 3minutes of cooking 

• Removed ther cooked vegetable in a bowl and serve hot with Roti/Parantha, or Dal-Chawal.

Gajar-Methi ki sabzi 

Tips:

• Allow all water to drain from washed methi leafs. Else excess water in methi will ask for longer cooking and this changes the color and taste of vegetable which is not desired.
• Cut bcarrot to smaller pieces. Thick pieces of carrot give wrong texture to vegetable.
• Add methi only when gajar is almost done. Because methi i9s cooked for short time to retain its color, texture and taste.
• Overcooking of methi will cchange its atste to unsavory bitterish taste.

Suggested Variations: None.

Lauki Ki dahi Wali Sabzi (Bottle Gourd savory)

Lauki Ki Dahi wali Sabzi

Lauki (Bottle gourd/calabash/Dudhi) is a vegetable having large amount of water and dietary fibers. It is easy to digest and has a slight sweet taste. Thought many people prefer peeling the Lauki before making the vegetable, it is advisable that choose tender bottle gourd for making vegetable and keep the peel on. The peel has micro-nutrients and dietary fibers. Even if you get the one with hard peel and do not wish to have grainy touch to your vegetable, peel it but do not throw the peel. The peel can be cut to fine strips and a good savory can be made out of it or the peels can be roasted in oven and made to good crisp side dish. Apart from sabji (savory) it can be used to make Koftas-Curry also. I prefer Lauki koftas make using Moong-dal flour, the Koftas come out crispier.

Lauki is not only used to make savory but good dessert like Kheer, Halwa and delicious healthy shake “Deli Milk Shake” http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.in/2015/02/deli-milk-shake.html

The savory of Lauki can be made with or without adding curd/tomatoes. If sourness is not introduced to the sabji then it comes out a little on the sweeter side due to the sweetness of Lauki. Whatever way it is made Lauki sabji is very tasty and healthy. My daughter-in-law loves the Lauki I make using curd. She loves eating it with not only roti but with chawal (steamed rice) also.

Bottle gourd has tremendous health benifits. It is diuretic, cooling thus soothing to digestive system. Due to plenty of water content in it , it moisturises the skin internally and is reduces the chances of acnes.The fibers in peel help in absorption of water in elementary canal thus reduces the chances of constipation. 

Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes (max.)

Serving: 4 Medium Servings

Nutritional Facts: Omiting Potato amount of Carb and calories can be reduced along with few micro-nutrients)

85 Cal

20.56mg Carb

9 gm. Protein

7 gm. Sugars

1.50 mg. Dietary fiber

25 mg. Calcium

o.25 mg. iron

6ug folates

10 mg Vitamin C

Vitamin K

45.5 mg Potassium

90.6 mg Sodium

0.25 mg Vitamin B6

12 mg. Magnesium

0.7 mg. Zinc

Ingredients Required for Making Lauki-Ki-Dahi Wali Sabji:

• 500 gm. Tender Lauki (Bottle Gourd)

Bottle gourd

• 1 Medium size Potato (Optional) (10 gm. approx.)
• 1 Green Chili
• 2-3 Sprigs of fresh Coriander leafs
• 1 cm. Piece of Ginger
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Ghee (Clarified Butter) Melted not solid
• 1/2teaspoon Jeera (Cumin seeds)
• 1/4Teaspoon Hing (Asafetida powder)
• 1/4teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• Salt to taste
• 200 gm. Thick slightly sour Curd (I use Skimmed milk curd) at room temp. 
• 1-2 Sprigs of Fresh coriander leafs for garnish

Directions For Making Lauki-KI-Sabji:

• Wash Coriander leafs, chili and ginger. Chop them finely.
• Wash Lauki and remove any blemishes fron Lauki surface usinf knife.
• Chop Lauki to small pieces.

Chopped vegetable 

• In a pressure cooker take 1/2teaspoon of ghee and heat till very hot.
• Add cumin seeds and let them splutter.
• Once the seeds had spluttered add
• Hing
• Ginger pieces
• Green chili pieces
• Chopped coriander leafs
• Cook for 1 minute with constant stirring. Aroma of spices will start emanating.

Spices and coriander leafs cooking 

• Add potato pieces and cook for 2 minutes on low flame with stirring two or three times.

Potatoes added and cooked for 2 minutes

• Add Lauki pieces and stir. Cook for 2 minutes with stirring 3-4 times, so that all spices mix with vegetable.

Lauki (Bottle gourd) added and cooked for 2 minutes

• Add
• Turmeric
• Salt
• Mix and close the cooker with the lid. Place the weight of cooker on the lid and cook on low flame for 5 minutes (Till it whistles once).

Turmeric and salt added

Ready for cooking on low heat in pressure

• Switch off the heat and allow the vegetable to cool. Open lid, Lauki and potatoes will have cooked.
• Mash the vegetable(mostly potatoes) slightly.

Cooked vegetable

After mashing cooked vegetable

• Whisk  curd (which should be at room temperature) to smooth consistency.
• Keep the cooker on high heat and add curd.
• Mix curd and vegetable, and cook with constant stirring for minutes or so. Once the vegetable starts bubbling, switch off the heat.

Curd added and given a boil

• Do not get startled by slight splitting of curd. This is a natural phenomenon. But if cooked too much after adding curd the curdling will be excessive and the appearance as well as the taste will not be too good.

Lauki ki sabzi ready to be garnished

• Remove the sabji in a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leafs (Chopped or shredded).
• Serve with Roti/Parantha or Rice as my daughter-in-law likes.

Lauki ki Dahi Wali sabzi

Tips:

• Curd should be at room temperature else it will split. 
• Chop Lauki after you have done rest of the chopping because Lauki decolorizes if kept for long.
• Do not chop Lauki first and keep it immersed in water, as the nutrients will leach out from Lauki into water.
• If your Lauki has hard peel just scrape the upper surface, do not remove all the peel, in doing so you are loosing on important nutrients.
• Remove the seeds only if they are hard, in any case good Lauki for savory is the one with soft interior.
• Taste the chili before adding as some are too hot, and too hot chili will spoil the sweetness Lauki is associated with.
• Ginger, chili and coriander leafs (Dhaniya patta) are added to the vegetable for flavor, do not over do them.
• No water should be added to the Lauki in any stage as it is rich in juices and once it is in cooker the salt helps the juices to be released, Lauki and potatoes will cook in this juice itself.
• Cooking should be done on low heat. Never on high or medium, else vegetable will get burnt.
• Adding water will spoil the taste of Lauki sabji.
• Potato is added to bring some natural starch along with nutrients to the vegetable, which binds the Lauki pieces together.
• Never add curd or tomato before the vegetable is cooked.

Suggested Variation:

• Ghee can be replaced with any cooking oil, though this vegetable tastes best when made in ghee.
• Ghee or oil should be just enough to make the cumin seeds splutter, too much of ghee/oil will spoil the tatse and healthy benefit of Lauki.
• Potato can be omitted, but the final outcome will be slightly different. The starch of potato binds the vegetable and curd together. Omitting potato will reduce calories and carb in vegetable.
• Curd can be replaced with 50 ml. paste of tomato puree. If adding tomato puree, then cook the vegetable for 3-4 minutes after adding tomato puree so that the flavor of tomato mix nicely with Lauki.
• 2 teaspoon ofroasted  flour (Wheat/Rice/Gram) can be added to curd before adding to the cooked vegetable mixture. This avoids curdling of curd. I prefer not to add it thus not shown in my recipe.

Gahat-Ke-Dubke/गहत के ड़ुब्के (Thick Broth Of Gahat with Spicy Dumplings)

Gahat-ke-Dubke

Gahat-ke-Dubke with Bathua-Raita and Palak-ka-Kapa

Gahat is grown from hills of Himalayan range to south of India Tamil Nadu. Its botanical name is Macrotyloma Uniflorum.  Kulthi / Hulga / Kuleeth /Hurali / Horse gram / Madras gram are the few common names of Gahat.

It is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine for treating numerous health disorders including rheumatism, worm, conjunctivitis and piles. Gahat have astringent and diuretic properties and is believed to be beneficial for treating kidney stones, help to control various menstrual problems, reducing flatulence, for treating peptic ulcer, to lower cholesterol levels, helps to reduce excessive weight, controlling fever, for extracting phlegm, helpful for keeping the body warm during winter.

Well now a day we speak of health benefit and nutritional values but in good old days when people used to have this legume in Kumaon in two different ways. It can be cooked after soaking or without soaking, either as whole / powder or paste. All preparations are delectable and are cooked throughout the year in hilly regions of India. The reason behind this is, it is widely cultivated in Himalayan range, provides the much needed heat in cold climate of Kumaon and is highly nutritive. In my earlier blog I have written about a supremely tasty preparation called Ras which is made in winters. Gahat ke dubke is a thick broth of the paste of Gahat with dumplings of spicy Gahat. It is taken with steamed rice/Mandira (Barnyard millet/Mandira/Bhagar).

Folklores say that in earlier days when dynamite was not available to villagers for breaking the rocks they used to boil Gahat and pour the boiling water of Gahat in the crevices of rocks. Twelve hours alter the rock developed big cracks and thus easy to breakdown. How far there is truth in this folk I do not know but this much I know that it is used to break the stone of kidney. I can vouch the veracity of this concoction as the kidney stone cure. My husband’s kidney stone was broken to small pieces and thus got flushed out by taking hot soup of Gahat.

Nutritional fact for 100 gm of Gahat/Kuleeth/Hulga:

Cal: 321

Moisture: 12 gm.

Proteins: 22gm.

Fat: 0 gm.

Fiber: 5gm.

Carbohydrates: 57gm

Minerals: 3gm.

Calcium: 287 mg.

Phosphorus: 311mg.

Iron: 7mg.

Preparation Time: 20 min (Soaking time not included)

Cooking Time: 45-60-min

Servings: 8 large servings

Ingredients Required For making Gahat Ke Dubke:

• 100 gm Gahat
• 4-5 Cloves of Garlic (Optional)
• 1inch piece Ginger
• 2-3 Green chilies
• 1 Pinch of Asafoetida
• 2 teaspoon of Atta (Whole wheat flour)
• 1 Teaspoon Red chili powder or to taste
• 4-5 sprigs of fresh coriander leafs
• 1Teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 2-3 whole Red chilies
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 10ml. cooking oil
• Salt to taste

For Seasoning:

• 1/2Teaspoon Red Chili Powder (optional)
• I teaspoon Ghee (clarified butter)
• 1/2Teaspoon Cumin seeds
• Pinch of asafoetida
• 2-3 Whole Red chilies
• 2-3 Sprigs of Fresh Coriander leafs

Directions For Making Gahat-Ke-Dubke:

• Clean Gahat and wash nicely.
• Soak in water for 5-6 hrs.
• Drain the water and wash in running water.
• Take 1/4^th of the soaked Gahat and grind then coarsely.

Coarsely Ground Gahat

• Chop garlic and grate ginger.
• Wash and chop coriander and green chilies finely.
• Mix:
• Coarsely ground paste of Gaht
• Green chilies
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Chopped Coriander 
• Chopped Green chilies
• 1/4Teaspoon Turmeric powder
• Atta
• Salt
• Take 2-3 ml. oil in a wok and cook the mixture with continuous stirring till it changes the color and becomes thick enough to be made to balls.

Coarsely ground gahat cooked with spices

• Cool the cooked mixture and make small balls and keep aside.

Balls of Cooked coarsely Gahat

• Make fine paste of the remaining Gahat.

Fine Paste of Gahat

• In a thick bottom wok take 2-3 ml. of oil and heat it.
• When the oil is hot add:
• 1/2Teaspoon cumin seeds
• Asafoetida
• Red chilies (broken to pieces)

Tempering Ready

• When the seeds splutter and the chilies change the color, add:
• Fine paste of Gahat
• Salt
• Turmeric powder
• Red chili powder to it and bring the flame to low.

Fine paste of Gahat added to Tempering

• Mix nicely and cook for 10 min on low flame with continuous stirring. The paste will become thick and change the color. The cooked paste will start leaving the edges of wok.

Fine paste cooked and ready for water to be added

• Add 200 ml. of water and mix till a smooth mixture is formed.
• Add 200-300 ml. of water and cook on low flame with continuous stirring.

Water added and mixture made to lumpless mixture

• When the mixture comes to boil add the balls of coarse paste of Gahat. Bring the flame to high and turn the balls in the broth nicely. Make sure the balls do not break.
• Bring the flame to low, cover the wok and cook for 10 min. with intermittent stirring delicately.
• Add water to bring the broth to the consistency you want and cook for another 2-3 min. on high flame.

Ball of Gahat added to boiling gahat paste solution

• Heat ghee in a pan and to the hot ghee add:
• Cumin seeds
• Red chilies
• 1/2Teaspoon Red chili powder (Optional)
• Asafoetida
• When the seeds splutter, the chilies become darker in color seasonings ready. Pour the mixture over the Gahat-Ke-Dubke.

Gahat dubke with Seasoning

• Remove the cooked Gahat- ke-Dubke in a serving bowl. Garnish with coriander leafs.
• Enjoy Gahat-Ke-Dubke with steamed rice or Mandira ka bhat.

Gahat-ke-Dubke

Tips:

• The paste for Balls should be coarse not roughly ground.
• Do not add too much water while grinding the soaked Gahat. Add in small proportions so that the coarsely ground paste as well as the finely ground paste is thick.
• While stirring after adding the Gahat balls stir with light hand so that the balls do not break.
• To avoid the Dubke to stick at the bottom use either non-stick wok or while stirring let the ladle go till the bottom of the wok.
• Check the degree of hotness of the chilies before adding.
• While adding water to cooked fine paste of Gaht to make the lump less mixture you can switch off the gas and once the mixture is formed start cooking again.

Suggested Variations:

• While tempering Gandrainy a spice of immense medicinal value can be added along with rest of the spices before adding the fine paste.
• Red chili powder can be replaced with green chili paste.  

Karela Ki Sabji /करेले की सब्ज़ी (Indian Savory of Bitter Gourd)

Karele (Bitter gourd) Ki Sabji

Karela is known as bitter gourd in English. There are many varieties of bitter gourd. Difference is in color and size, All are bitter. The long and light green is more fleshy and can be used for making vegetable by chopping it but the smaller version can be used to make savory by stuffing it (Bhara Karela) or by chopping it to pieces. Though many feel it is too bitter to eat the bitterness can be well balanced by adding appropriate amount of sugar and amchur powder. Bitter gourd vegetable is very tasty and healthy. The juice of bitter gourd is used in naturopathy to cure diabetes. The recipe I am posting today is the version I like most and has been perfected after lots of permutation combination in my earlier stages of cooking. More credit should go to my husband who braved tasting every time I changed the proportions and he gave his inputs.

Preparation Time: 20-30 min.

Cooking Time: 50-60 min

Servings: 4 Large Servings

Ingredients Required For Making Karele Ki Sabji:

• 1/2Kg. Karela (Bitter Gourd)
• 1/2Kg. Onion
• 2 Teaspoon Saunf (Fennel Seeds)
• 1/2Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Red chili Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
• 2-3 Teaspoon Amchur Powder
• 10-15 ml. of Mustard oil / any cooking oil
• 2 Teaspoon Sugar
• 50 gm  Groundnuts
• Salt to taste

Direction For Making Karele Ki Sabji (Indian savory of Bitter Gourd):

• Scrape the bitter gourd with knife to remove just the protruded green part, do not peel it.
• Cut thin round pieces with the help of potato chip cutter or thin long 3-4 inches pieces.

Thin slices of Bitter Gourd

• Put a spoonful of salt and mix to the pieces of bitter gourd. Cover and keep aside.
• Roast ground nuts and remove the brown cover of ground nuts.
• Grind coarsely the roasted ground nuts. Keep aside the coarse ground nut powder.
• Cut onions to thin long slices.
• Heat oil in a big thick bottom wok till oil is smoking hot.
• Add
• Fennel seeds
• Broken pieces of whole red chilies
• Let the seeds of fennel splutter and chilies (optional) become dark brown in color. Do not let the seeds and chilies become black. Black color means that they have got burnt and the taste as well as flavor of vegetable will get spoilt.

Fennel seeds spluttering in hot oil

• When the seeds splutter add chopped onion and lower the heat.

Onions in oil tempered with fennel seeds

• Cook the onion to transparent state with frequent stirring.

Transparant state of onion 

• Squeeze the bitter gourd pieces. This will remove the bitter juice from them. Discard the bitter juice and keep the bitter gourd pieces aside.
• When the onions are transparent add bitter gourd pieces and mix nicely.

Bitter Gourd added to onions

• Add
• Turmeric powder
• Salt
• Red chili powder
• Mix and cover with a lid.
• Cook for 25-30 min. on low heat with occasional stirring. This will cook the bitter gourd and make the onions little brown.
• If you like the bitter gourd to be more crisp then cook for another 15 min on low heat stirring 4-5 times.

Ready for Groundnut and Garam masala 

• Add amchur powder and sugar and mix nicely.
• Add
• Coarsely ground groundnut
• Garam masala and mix nicely.

Groundnut and Garm masala added

• Cover and keep aside for the flavors of spices to mix with each other.

Ready to Serve

• Serve hot bitter gourd vegetable garnished with fresh coriander leaves with roti/parantha.

Karele (Bitter Gourd) Ki  Sabji

Tips:

• Make sure the fennel seeds and chili pieces do not turn black.
• Cooking should be done on low heat else the bitter gourd will become brown in color but remain under cooked.
• If you are using mustard oil heat it to smoking hot.
• If you wish groundnuts can be omitted. 

Suggested Variations:

• Groundnuts can be replaced by roasted sesame seeds. Groundnuts and sesame seeds add crunchiness and nutrition to the vegetable.
• Bitter gourd pieces can be blanched in salted water then squeezed. This will make them soft and less bitter also the cooking time will reduce.
• Sugar can be replaced by jaggery.
• 15 ml. of freshly squeezed lemon juice can be taken instead of amchur. But lemon juice should be added just before adding groundnut and cooked for just a minute or two. Lemon juice if cooked for longer time it develops very unpleasant taste.