Bharwa Karela!

Ingredients

Bitter gourd (karela) -8-10 pieces

Panch Phoran( 5 spices)- 1/2 teaspoon

Mustard seeds(Rai)- 3/4 teaspoon

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tablespoon

Fennel seeds(sauf)-1-2 teaspoon

Coriander seeds(dhaniya)-1 teaspoon

Tomatoes- 2-3

Onions- 4-5

Green chilly-1-2

Red chilly powder-1 teaspoon

Turmeric(Haldi)-1/2 teaspoon

Amchoor (khatai)/green mango - 1 teaspoon

Salt-2 tsp

Threads to wrap

Recipe

1.Wash Karela. Cut a slit vertically in to the belly of the Karela and scrap out the filling inside. Keep the scrapping from inside for the filling. Rub the skin and the insides of the Karela with 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside for some hours so that it leave out some water.

2.One will see a lots of water as a result of salting. Squeeze out as much water as possible.

Stuffing

1. Heat about 2 tablespoon of oil in a pan . Put the panch and rai in it. Then put the onions and ginger garlic paste along with green chilly. Then add the karela scrapping along with the tomatoes. Also blend dhaniya and sauf in a mixer and add them here. Then put turmeric, red chilly, aamchur and salt to taste.

2. Let the stuffing fry for a few minutes till the mixture is ready. Close the lid till it is made.

Cooking

1. Take the karela and fill them with the filling and tie with the thread( optional).

2. Pour some oil in the pan and put the karela.

3. One can also put some raw onions and tomatoes in the pan to aide the karela to cook and leave water.

4. Let the karela fry for some time and keep turning. If it doesn't leave out enough water put about 2 tablespoon of water and let it cook till the karela are cooked well.

5. Check the karela after some time with a fork to see if its done. It will take about 20-30 minutes.

Have them hot with roti and dahi . They are not spoiled soon and tastes good cold too.

Note: Panch is a mixture of five spices namely:-

1 tbsp nigella seeds(Kalonji)
1 tbsp black mustard seeds(Rai)
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds(Methi dana)
1 tbsp fennel seeds(Sauf)
1 tbsp cumin seeds(Jeera)

Note: One can always fill the karela with some keema if you are a non vegetarian...I have never had it but my naani used to makes and mom says it tastes awesome.