Spicy Bitter Gourd Poriyal (Pachadi) / Pavakkai Pachadi / Spicy Bitter Gourd Stir Fry

Though we know bitter gourd has many nutritional and medicinal properties; many of us hesitate  to consume because of the bitter taste.

Now a days i started to try different recipes to make this vegetable a tasty food and this is one among them.  Every body in my family loved this; try and give your feedback.

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd - 2
Onion - 1

Garlic - 5 to 6 cloves
Ginger - 1" piece
Red chilli powder - ½ to 1 tsp
Tamarind - one small gooseberry size
Red chillies - 2
Jaggery - one small piece
Salt - to taste

For Seasoning:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Red chilies - 2

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Directions:

Pre - preparations:

Wash and peel the skin (don't peel the skin completely; take out only the outer thick layer).

Slit it into two and remove the seeds; then chop into bite sized pieces and keep aside. 

Finely chop the onion, ginger and garlic; keep aside.

Soak the tamarind in ½ cup of water. Extract the juice and keep aside.

Preparation: 

Heat oil in a kadai; season it with mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.

Once it splutters; add  the chopped bitter gourd and saute for 5 minutes in a medium flame.

(Can sprinkle water it it sticks to the pan)

Add the finely chopped onion, ginger,  garlic, turmeric powder, red chili powder  to the bitter gourd ; mix well.

Add tamarind extract and jaggery to the bitter gourd mixture and mix well.

( add water if necessary)

Cover and cook in a medium till the bittergourd in cooked and till the mixture become thick in consistency.

Serve hot as a accompaniment to rice with sambar, rasam or curd; you can try it with chapathi as well.

Note:

You can adjust the tamarind, salt,  red chilli powder, jaggery amount according to your taste bud.