Bitter Gourd Curry

Ingredients

Bitter Gourd-1.5 cups (chopped coarsely)
Tamarind- Sphere of 2 inch diameter soaked in one cup of water Jaggery- 1 ½ tbsp
Salt-1 tsp
Water-1 cup (250 ml)

For Masala paste

Dry Coconut- 2tbsp (grated)
Dry red chillies- 5
Urad Dal / Black gram split lentil- 1tbsp
White Poppy seeds- 1tsp
Water- 1/4 cup

Seasoning

Vegetable Oil- 3tsp
Mustard Seeds- 1/2tsp
Urad Dal / Black gram split lentil- 1/2tsp
Curry Leaves- 1-2 twigs

Procedure

1.Soak the chopped bitter gourd in turmeric water for 10 minutes.

2.Dry roast dry red chillies and urad dal on medium flame for about a minute. Set it aside for sometime to cool.

3.Dry roast poppy seeds on low flame for a few seconds. Keep it aside to cool.

4.Grind these roasted ingredients, i.e. dry red chillies, poppy seeds, urad dal along with coconut to a fine paste by adding 1/4 cup of water.

5.Heat vegetable oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it .Wait for the seeds to crackle.

6.Then add urad dal, curry leaves and fry for about a minute.Now add the chopped bitter gourd, and stir fry the pieces for about 10 minutes on medium flame.

7.Extract the pulp from the soaked tamarind with your hand and add this to the stir fried bitter gourd. Cook on medium flame for 15-20 minutes.

8.After the bitter gourd pieces get cooked, add the ground masala paste, jaggery and salt. Mix well and continue to stir the curry for 5 more minutes.Once done, switch off the flame and serve with steamed rice.

Serves: 3-4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes