Bitter Gourd Pickle/Karela Pickle Recipe

Nisha Madhulika | 0 Comment(s) | 9758 times read

Bitter gourd Pickle can be made in either way: Stuffed bitter gourd or bitter gourd cut into pieces. We need small sized bitter gourds to make stuffed bitter gourd pickle and for the pickle that is cut we can use small or long bitter gourds. Today we will make the pickle using long bitter gourds cut in thin strips as this is very easy to eat. For those who eat less pickle, we can use 1 or 2 pieces of bitter gourd. So let's prepare Bitter gourd pickle.

- Ingredients for Bitter gourd Pickle

Bitter gourd - 500 grams ( 7-8 medium sized) Heeng (asafoetida) - equal to one pea Jeera (cumin) - 2 tsp Methi (fenugreek) - 2 tsp Saunff (fennel) - 4 tsp Rie/yellow mustard - 2 tsp (crushed)

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Red chilly powder - 1 tsp Black salt - 1 tsp Plain salt - 3 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Mustard oil - 200 grams (1 cup) Vinegar -1 tbsp or juice of 2 lemons

- How to make Bittergourd Pickle

Get nice long shaped Bitter gourds from the market. Wash bitter gourds twice with clean water then place them in a strainer or plate to drain out remaining water. Cut off its stems. Cut the bitter gourds into thin round pieces. Put 1 tsp salt to the pieces of bitter gourds and keep aside for 1 hour in a utensil. This releases the bitter water from them, put these salt coated bitter gourds in boiling water and cover for 5 minutes. Keep the bitter gourd pieces in a strainer and remove excess water, keep the pieces on a washed cloth for 2-3 hours in the open/sun to dry the water on them. Roast Heeng, Jeera, Methi and Saunff till they turn light brown. Grind these reoasted spices with yellow mustard to a coarse powder. Now keep the bitter gourd pieces in a dry utensil, also put the roasted spices and salt, mix all these ingredients properly. Squeeze the juice from the lemons on the bitter gourd pieces and mix with a spoon.

Fill a glass or plastic container with the bitter gourds mixed in spices, you can also keep this container in the sun. Stir the pickle everyday for the next 4 days with a clean and dry spoon. Sour bitter gourd pickle with a mouth watering smell is ready. Serve during breakfast or dinner with hot paranthas. This pickle can be eaten for 15-20 days. To increase its shelf life keep the pickle in the fridge or add mustard oil enough to submerge the pickle completely.

My moms pickles are very famous among our friends and family. She even gives them to most of the functions at the temples at our native. Her pickles had the perfect blend of spice, salt, asafoetida etc. She uses a very little oil in them. We always ask my mom to start a pickle business, but she thought we are just kidding. I never like the store bought pickles because of oil. They look like made of oil and oil just spoils the entire taste. I have been trying some of the pickles these days. I loved the bitter gourd pickle. When I was a kid, I never ate this, but my mom would keep ready a batch of this for my dad. He simply loved this.

Ingredients: Bitter gourd (cut into thin slices) 2 cups Green chillies (cut into slits) 1 cup Oil 2 tea spns Mustard seeds 1 and 1/2 tea spns Fenugreek(methi) seeds tea spn Turmeric tea spn Asafoetida tea spn Jaggery tea spn Tamarind tea spn Salt Mom adds 1 cup of chillis to 1 cup bitter gourd. I reduced the proportion because the chillies I used were too hot. Jaggery and Tamarind can be increased to suit the taste. Method: Add 1 tea spn of salt to bitter gourd pieces and keep aside for 30mins. Squeeze off the water. Heat 1 and tea spn oil and fry the bitter gourd pieces. Add turmeric and when the bitter gourd is half cooked, add chillies (if added in the beginning, chillies cook faster and bitter gourd remains raw). When bitter gourd and chillies get a brownish color, stop cooking. Let them cool to room temperature. Heat remaining oil and fry mustard and fenugreek seeds (fry on a low flame. If the amount of fenugreek becomes more or mustard gets burnt, the pickle becomes bitter). Add asafoetida and grind this to a smooth paste along with jaggery. Add the masala and tamarind extract (directly use the tamarind extract available in market without adding water, if using normal tamarind, extract thick pulp using water) to the bitter gourd-chilli mixture. Mix well. Check for salt (bitter gourd retains some salt from first step). If required, add salt.

This pickle can be used soon after preparing. Store it in an airtight container in refrigerator. It remains good for around 15 days.

Bitter gourd/Karela pickle

Bitter gourd is also called bitter melon. Though bitter gourd is bitter in taste, it is very healthy. Bitter gourd contains many vitamins and minerals like A, B1, B2, C, calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper and potassium. It helps purify blood tissue, enhances digestion, and stimulates the liver. Bitter gourd is very good for diabetes patients. It tastes better if we use young immature bitter gourds for cooking which we can find it out by checking the skin, which is bright green in color and once you touch, it should be little hard rather than soft. If you cut it, the flesh should be white and the seeds are small and tender. The pickle which i am explaining is very simple and we can store for longer time. Let us look in to the procedure.. Preparation time:20 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes Ingredients:( For making 250 grams of pickle)

Bitter gourd 4 to 6 Chili powder 2 table spoons Coriander powder 2 table spoons Cumin powder 2 tea spoons Methi powder 1/2 tea spoon Mustard powder 1 tea spoon Tamarind very little Turmeric 1/4 tea spoon Asafoetida A pinch Garlic pods 3 or 4 Mustard seeds 1 spoon Cumin seeds 1 spoon Curry leafs few Oil 1 cup Salt 2 table spoons(check it, according to taste) Procedure: First wash the bitter guard and let it stay for sometime as water should drain out or use a paper towel and wipe them. Next cut it vertically and then cut it horizontally into small pieces and place them on paper towel so that all moist will be removed from it as shown in the picture below .

Heat oil in a pan and fry them until color changes into little dark color and turns crispy. once all the bitter guard pieces are fried just keep them aside.

Now take the mixer jar and put chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, salt, mustard powder, garlic pods and tamarind and grind it to powder without adding any water. Once the garlic pods and tamarind also grinds into powder, add this with the fried bitter guard, mix well and keep it aside. Now take a small pan and heat 2 tea spoons oil in it and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and curry leafs and once it starts splattering, add this into the bitter guard mixture. Mix well and let it cool down. You cannot see any oil in it today, but can see some oil by next day or two. You can start using the pickle 24 hours after preparing it, for better taste. It tastes amazing with rice. You can store in a glass bottle and use it for at least 1 month. Can be used for more than a month if stored in Refrigerator.

INDIAN RECIPES : KARELA AACHAR RECIPE

Karela Achar is a delicious South Indian pickle recipe. Learn how to make/prepare Bitter Gourd Pickle by following this easy recipe.

Karela Aachar Recipe Difficulty Rating Recipe Type Average 10.0 / 10 ( 1 votes) Veg.

Ingredients:
10 Fresh karela 1 tbsp Red chilli powder Salt to taste 1 1/2 Cup sesame oil 1 tbsp Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp Methi seeds 10 Fresh green chilly 1 tsp Asafetida powder 2 sprigs Curry leaves

How to make Karela Aachar:

Wash karelas and wipe well with a cotton cloth. Split into two equal halves, lengthwise. Clean the inside and cut into very thin slices. Cut green chili into thin long slices. Mix with karela slices. Add 3 tbsp salt and rub into the karela and chilly slices with hand. Squeeze the slices till the water gets removed. Spread on a clean white cotton cloth and sun dry for a whole day. Heat 1 cup oil and fry curry leaves till brown and crispy. Remove and keep aside.

 Splutter mustard in oil and add methi seeds. Fry for a few seconds. Before the methi seeds turn brown, add the dried karela and green chillies. Fry till the karelas are crispy. Remove from fire. Add fried curry leaves, red chilli powder, salt and asafetida powder. Mix thoroughly till all the salt is dissolved. Pour into clean dry glass jars or bottles. Pour the remaining oil on top of the aachar in all the bottles. Keep for two days. Karela Achar is ready.

Karela Pickle
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By : Saroj Kering Category : Ingredient,Vegetables, Bitter gourd Time Taken : 15-30 mins Rating :
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Method 1. Mix gourd slices, ginger, garlic, chillies, lemon juice and salt. 2. Put in a sterile airtight jar, with nonmetallic lid. 3. Shake well, keep aside. Shake twice a day for 2-3 days. Drain out all water in a dry colander. Spread out the veggies over a clean kitchen cloth to air out for 2-3 hours. Take veggies in a large bowl. Sprinkle masala mixture, jaggery, mix well. Heat oil till smoky, in a small pan. Add a pinch or two of asafoetida, keep aside till almost cooled. Add to the mixture, stir and mix well. Bottle again in a sterile bottle, and allow to mellow for 2-3 days before using.

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Note: Take care not to allow moisture to come in contact with pickle, or it may deteriorate and catch a fungus very soon. Wipe dry all fresh ingredients before using, Wipe clean bottles, bowls, etc. Variation: one may add other veggies of choice to the above combination, eg. Carrot juliennes, etc. Making time: 30 minutes Makes: 1 cups pickle (approx.) Shelflife: 4-5 weeks, refrigerated

Recipe of the day - Karela ( Bitter Gourd ) pickle

So its time for the first recipe on this blog.I mostly love to cook south indian dishes,specially spicy ones.So i would love to share all that i make in my kitchen.Here comes the first one. Ingradients : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Karela ( kakarikaya ) : 250 gms Jeera ( jeelakarra ) : 2 table spoons Mirchi powder : 3 table spoons salt : as per your taste , i would say 1 table spoon Oil to deep fry karela

For the filling : Grind the jeera,mirchi powder and the salt together and mix it with little water or little oil and keep aside. Procedure : If you do not want your dish to be very bitter, you can try scraping a little along the big ridges of the karela. Slit the Karela along half its length into four segments or you can just cut its belly so that you can fill it properly.You can use either the white Karela or the regular one.But i prefer the white karela and usually shorter ones for this recipe.The white karela is less bitter and it gives a wonderful taste. After you slit the karela,apply salt on the inside of it and keep it aside for about 15-20 minutes. Squeeze out the water from the karela and put oil in the pan ( you can use oil as you use for deep frying the vegetables or you can use about 2 table spoons of oil ) and fry the karela till it turns brown but be careful as to not burn it.

Then fill the karela with the filling and put about a teaspoon of more oil in the pan and fry the filled karelas. Your karela pickle is ready and have it with steaming hot rice.You can store this in the firdge,it would long for a week. Let me know if you liked the recipe. Happy cooking. R