Fried Bittergourd Melara

Fried Bittergourd Melara is my family recipe.  Thin slices of bittergourd are marinated in salt, red chili powder and turmeric. These slices are roasted with some oil and then added to a coconut and yogurt based gravy. The gravy is not cooked but served chilled with hot rice.

Ingredients:

Bittergourd – 1
Turmeric powder – 2 tsps
Red Chilli powder – 2 tsps
Salt – 2 tsps
Oil – 1 tbsp

For Gravy:

Coconut – 1/2 cup, grated
Yogurt/Curd – 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Dry Red Chilli – 1
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Slice bittergourd into thin rings.
2. De-seed all the rings.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder to these bittergourd rings and set aside for 1-2hours.
4. Take little potion of these rings and squeeze out all the liquid.
5. Repeat this for the all the sliced rings. This will remove the bitterness from the bittergourd rings.
6. Mix oil to these rings.
7. Roast them on low flame using a shallow pan or griddle. The easiest way to roast them is to microwave on HIGH for 8mins.
8. You can store these roasted rings in airtight container for 2-3 days or refrigerate to store for longer duration.
9. Using tongs hold the dry red chilli over the flame and roast it slightly.
10. Heat a laddle and put 1/4 tsp turmeric in it so that turmeric powder gets heated.
11. Grind roasted red chilli, heated turmeric powder and coconut with little water into a smooth paste.
12. Beat curd well and add this to the ground coconut paste and make a gravy by adding 1 cup water.
13. Add the roasted bittergourd rings to this gravy.
14. Refrigerate and serve chilled with rice.

P.S: Do not boil the gravy. This has to be served chilled.