Stuffed Bitter gourd / Bharwan Karela

I ate this dish at my friend's home and loved it. Bitter melon or bitter gourd is one of the most loved vegetables at my home. I usually make fritters or sabzi with it. But this is a unique dish where the bitter melon is stuffed with sweet and sour stuffing and shallow fried in a pan. It turned out to be delicious and here is the recipe.

Ingredients
4 bitter melon/ bitter gourd or karela
1 medium onion
1 medium tomato
1/4 teaspoon dry mango powder or amchur
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or as per taste
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
1 1/2 tablespoon grated jaggery or gur
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger
1 garlic clove (chopped)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt for taste
oil for frying

Method
Wash and peel the bitter melon. Make a slit on each bitter melon and remove the seeds with a spoon. When you make the slit, ensure that the bitter melon should not be slit into two parts. If you don't like the bitterness of the karela, then rub salt on it and keep it for 20-30 min. Squeeze all the bitter from the melon.
In a pan add a tablespoon of oil and add jeera. Fry it for a minute and add the ginger and garlic. Add chopped onion and fry it till golden brown. Add chopped tomato and cook it till soft. Now add all the powders and jaggery and stir well it all the spices are well blended into the masala.



Stuff this masala into every bitter melon. Tie the bitter melon with a string to avoid the masala from coming out while frying it.

Add a tablespoon of oil in a flat pan. Drop all the tied bitter melon in the pan and fry on a medium flame till all the sides are golden brown. Serve hot with chapatti or rice.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2