Konkani Karate Ambat / Bittergourd Curry

Everyone in my home loves bitter gourds. I make quite a number of items using bitter gourd. This is one of my mom's recipes which she would make very often. Unless there is an index of recipes, one tends to forget to make some of the recipes and that's what happened with my mom. She didn't make this bitter gourd for quite some time and we never remembered this amidst all the other tasty dishes she makes. Recently, I remembered this curry and asked her for the recipe and this has become a regular at my home now. This dish requires very tender and young bitter gourds. The more tender the bitter gourds are the tastier the curry!!

Ingredients
1 bitter gourd
6-7 beans or cluster beans
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tablespoon jaggery
3 roasted red chilies
small piece of tamarind (size of two peas)
1 teaspoon mustard
5-6 curry leaves
1 teaspoon oil for seasoning
salt for taste

Method
Scrape the skin and cut the bitter gourd into round circles. If the bitter gourds are very bitter, then mix salt into the cut pieces and keep aside for half an hour. Then squeeze the bitter water from the bitter gourd pieces. Cut the ends of the beans and slit each beans into two. Then cut the beans into one inch pieces. Cook the bitter gourd and beans in very little water till it is soft. Grind the coconut, jaggery, red chilies and tamarind into a very fine paste. Add the masala to the vegetables and get the curry to a boil. Season the curry with mustard and curry leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2

Wish List

These recipes are part of my wish list which I would like to try some time in future.

Zhunka Bhakar from The Cooks Cottage

Carrot Pumpkin fudge from and a little bit more

Ukadiche modak from My Foodcourt

Beetroot Halwa from VegBowl

Stuffed Milk Bread from My Singapore

Dalia Pulao from The Chef and Her Kitchen

Ragi Mudde from The Chef and Her Kitchen

Ragi Roti from The Chef and Her Kitchen

Oats Pongal

Oats upma

Oats Uttappa

Eggless Microwave coffee Cake

Val Khichidi

Val and Vangi Sabzi

Ghee Chicken Roast

Dal Dhokli

Vegie Lasange

Pumpkin Flower Sabzi

Peanut Oats Ladoo

Microwaved Masala Peanuts

Olive Bread

Azuki Bean Crepes / Bagde Polo / Lal Chori Dosa / Red Chori Dosa

I learnt this nutritious dosa from my friend Pri. It is supposed to be had in leisure as it is very heavy comfort food made entirely with lentils. It makes a great brunch on weekends.

Ingredients
1 cup red chori
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
2 green chilies
1 medium onion
4 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
salt for taste
ghee(optional)

Method
Soak red chori in plenty of water overnight or for 7-8 hours. Rinse it well. Grind it into a smooth paste with ginger, green chilies and salt. The batter should be watery in texture. Add chopped onion and coriander leaves.


Heat oil in a tava and spread a very thn layer of dosa batter. If the dosa is thick then it won't cook well and remain raw at places where it is spread thick. When the dosa cooks on one side, spread a little ghee on the dosa and flip it to the other side. Cook both sides of the dosa on a medium flame for a long time so that it is crispy. Serve the dosa with chutney.

Pepper Rasam

Pepper rasam is a great comfort food to have on cold wintery days. It is a great home remedy for colds, fevers and sore throat. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon rasam powder
4-5 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
2 tablespoon cooked toor dal (for better consistency)
1 medium tomato chopped
1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1/4 teaspoon pepper powder or as desired
salt for taste

Method
Combine the chopped tomato, toor dal, rasam powder, pepper powder and tamarind. Add 3 cups of water and get the rasam to a boil. Add coriander leaves and salt for taste. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot.

Sheera / Sooji Ka Halwa

Sheera is one of a delicious sweet which can be prepared in matter of minutes. When people celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in Pune, they make this sheera as it is considered a favorite of Lord Ganesha. This sheera can be made with or without banana. It is usually served with spicy chana sabzi.

Ingredients
1 cup coarse semolina or rava
2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1 banana (optional)
8 cardamom pods
pinch of kesar
2 tablespoon ghee or clarified butter
dry fruits (raisins, almonds, cashewnuts)

Method

Fry semolina on a low flame in a pan till light brown and smells good. Boil or heat milk in microwave milk and keep aside. Separate the cardamom from pods and powder it with a tablespoon of sugar and mix with the semolina. Heat 2 tablespoon milk and add kesar and keep aside. Heat ghee in a pan and add the chopped nuts and fry till golden brown. Keep the heat at medium-low or medium. Add the semolina and fry for a minute. Add milk and stir continuously till no lumps are formed. Add sugar to the sheera. Addwell mashed banana to the sheera. Keep flame on low and cook covered for 5 minutes till the semolina is soft. Add keshar and stir well. Cook till the milk has evaporated. Stir well with a wooden ladle till the sheer turns into a big lump. Serve hot.
If you want a round shape as in the photo, grease a small bowl with ghee and press the sheera into the bowl. Then tilt the bowl upside down to gently slide the sheera into a plate.

Tips: The secret of making sheera without lumps is to keep the heat low when adding milk to the semolina. and stirring it continuously. Stirring it well with a ladle once it is cooked gives it a smooth consistency.

Margarita Pizza

One of my friend taught me this recipe and it has become very popular in my home since then. The versatility, the quickness and various modifications which can be make to this basic pizza recipe make it more interesting to make. I have in my mind to post the different kinds of pizza I have tried including a dessert pizza which I made watching the recipe on TLC's "Take home Chef". Taking "little things" into consideration like using fat-free cheese can go a long way to make this recipe healthier. I am sending this recipe to events hosted by Poornima and Bindiya.


Ingredients
1 portion of pizza dough
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (use fat-free if you want to make it healthier)
4 tablespoon tomato sauce or as desired
2 tomatoes de-seeded or sliced or chopped
10-12 basil leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon powdered Parmesan cheese

Method

Knead the pizza dough well for 5 minutes. Starting from the center of the dough stretch the pizza dough with your fingers to make a round shape. Alternatively you can also roll it using a rolling pin or "belan" into a round shape to fit your pizza pan or pizza stone. Spread the tomato sauce on the pizza dough. Then top with tomato slices or pieces and basil leaves. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on the pizza. Bake it at 500 degrees for 10-13 minutes or till the cheese has melted and golden in color. Don't over bake it, otherwise it will turn crispy and hard.


Swirl some olive oil on the pizza. Sprinkle pepper flakes and parmesan cheese and serve it hot.