Stuffed Karela

About Stuffed Karela

Ingredients

• Bitter gourds (karela) 4
• Salt to taste
• Oil 2 tbsps
• Asafoetida (hing) ¼ tsp
• Cumin seeds 1 tsp
• Spring onions with greens 2 to 3
• Green cardamom powde ½ tsp
• Red chilli powder 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder ½ tsp
• Gram flour (besan) 2 tbsps
• Dried mango powder (amchur) 1 tsp
• Spring onion bulbs, cut into thin strips for garnish
• Lemon juice ½ tsp

How to Make Stuffed Karela (Stepwise Photos)

Method

1. Wash the bitter gourds thoroughly and scrape the skin with a peeler and reserve the scrapings. Make a lengthwise slit in the gourds and remove the seeds.
2. Put gourds in a bowl, sprinkle salt and mix well. Set aside to marinate for at least 1 hour. Take the scrapings in another bowl, sprinkle salt over them and set aside for 1 hour.
3. Squeeze the gourds to remove excess moisture and wash them twice with hot water and then squeeze out all the water. Squeeze the scrapings and set them aside in another bowl.
4. To make the filling, slice the spring onions with the greens.
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan, add asafoetida and cumin seeds and let them change colour.
6. Add spring onions and gourd scrapings and saute for about 2 minutes. Add salt, green cardamom powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and gram flour and saute for 2 minutes. Sprinkle a little water and mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
7. Stuff the gourds with this mixture.
8. Heat 1 tbsp oil in another non-stick pan, place the stuffed gourds in it and add a little water. Cover and cook till the gourds are cooked and turn a golden brown.
9. Sprinkle dried mango powder over the gourds.
10. Arrange the gourds on a serving platter, garnish with spring onion strips and drizzle lemon juice over them. Serve hot.

Additional Tips and Tricks

About chef

Chef Shantanu Gupte

Chef Shantanu Gupte hosts the show Health Mange More on channel FOOD FOOD.

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Chaitrali Deshmukh

Thank you for the amazing instructions.

I have success w/ my dosa but does not last long stored in the refrigerator.

Maybe I am fermenting for too long, or add the salt before the rise?

I also was wondering if it is important to blend separately or can it be blended all together?

Reply

Chef Saransh Goila

Hi Chaitrali,
Yes, cut down the fermentation time and add salt only to the required portion at the time of making the dosa. Also storing in smaller containers just enough for a day helps. Once the batter in a larger container is disturbed (by stirring or scooping out a little etc), I feel it turns sour faster. You can blend them together if you want. But we do it separately because we want the dal batter to become fluffy and the rice batter slightly coarse. Fluffy dal batter makes the dosas light and coarse rice batter makes them extra crispy without making the dosas hard. Hope this helps