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
