Today's recipe includes bittergourd as the main ingredient. The name itself suggest the taste of this veggie, yes its bitter and many of you may not be liking it .... So are you trying to skip this page or go to some other recipe ... WAIT ... Believe me, this is a must try recipe and you will instantly fall in love with the crunchy not so bitter taste of this vegetable. The traditional recipe calls in for deep frying, but I follow the method of shallow frying obviously for health reasons.  Karathe is konkani word for bittergourd and kismuri means dry dish or salad type served as side dish. I love eating this dish just as it is or mixed with plain hot rice. 




Ingredients

3 small sized bitter gourd
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated coconut, fresh or frozen
4 roasted red chilies, I used byadgi variety
1 tsp coriander seeds
Small piece of tamarind
Salt as per the taste
Powdered jaggery [optional, I use about 1-2 tsp so that kids too consume this veggie]
Finely chopped coriander leaves [optional again]
1 tbsp Oil 

Method:

Wash and clean the vegetable. Scrape the skin with a knife, chop them finely and discard the seeds. Sprinkle some salt, mix well and allow them to rest for about 30 mins. After 1/2 hour, heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add squeezed bittergourd pieces to it. Shallow fry them on medium flame till they turn crunchy and golden brown [This step may require time as well as some patience]. Remove from pan and keep them aside.

Meanwhile grind coconut, coriander seeds, tamarind, roasted red chilies into a coarse powder without adding any water. Collect this into a bowl, add jaggery and mix it well.  When ready to serve mix the chopped onions and shallow fried bittergourd pieces to this bowl, adjust salt if required, garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves [optional] and serve it immediately. Karate kismuri goes very well as side dish with rice and dal or even chappatis/ rotis.