Stuffed Bitter Gourd

If you haven’t yet dared to eat. Try once, you might end up loving it like me.

STUFFED BITTER GOURD/ bitter melon

Ingredients:

• 6 bitter gourds
•  1/4 cup peanuts
•  1/2 tbsp saunf ( fennel seeds)
•  3/4 tsp turmeric
•  3/4 tsp red chilly powder
• 1/2 tsp amchur powder (dry mango powder)
•  1/2 tsp salt +some extra for sprinkling
•  1/4tsp garam masala
•  juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
•  3/4″ ginger piece
•  olive oil for frying masala and roasting
  

Method:

Toast fennel seeds and coarsely grind it. Toast peanuts and coarsely crush it with a rolling pin by putting in a Ziploc bag. Rinse the bitter gourds nicely and dry with cloth. Make a cut lengthwise leaving the ends intact. Scoop out the seeds and the white fluff lining with a spoon. Be careful not to break the green part. Squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon and smear salt and lemon juice on outer skin of bitter gourds with your fingers. Put it aside.


Keep the soft seeds of bitter gourds and throw the hard brown ones. Coarsely grind onion, ginger and garlic and bitter gourd seeds to make 3/4 cup masala.

Heat oil in a pan. Saute onion mixture. Add turmeric and chilly powder. Fry till golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Pre heat the oven at 400 degrees F. Line aluminum foil in 8×8′ baking pan. Add ground fennel seeds, crushed toasted peanuts,salt, garam masala and amchur powder in the onion mixture. Stuff this mixture in bitter gourds and place it in prepared baking pan. Drizzle olive oil generously on bitter gourds and oven fry them for 45 to 55 minutes or until cooked, turning after every 20 minutes. When completely done remove from oven and cut them into halves.