Sunday, February 21, 2010

Pagarkkai Curry

                   My husband loves pagarkkai / bitter gourd a lot.Whenever he shops for veggies, I can count on him to pick Pagarkkai. I love pagarkkai too but not as much as him. I started to adapt it to my taste. I make this curry with it which has so many different tastes with minimum of spices. The best thing about the curry is the final dish comes out shiny and dark, looks delicious.          

Pagarkkai Curry

Ingredients:
Pagarkkai / bittergourd    3
turmeric powder  1/2tsp
tamarind paste     1 tsp
red chilli powder  1/2 tsp
sambhar powder   1 tsp
powder jaggery / vellam   2 tsps
mustard seeds   1 tsp
urad dal / ulutham paruppu  2tsps
asafoetida  a pinch
oil 3tsp
salt to taste

Method
1. Cut the pagarkkai lengthwise into half. Remove the pulp and seeds. Cut the rest into tiny cubes.
2. Smear the pagarkkai with tamarind paste and turmeric powder .Set aside.
3.In a saute pan, heat a little oil and add the mustard seeds.When the mustard seeds sputter, add urad dal and  let it turn red.
4.Add the cut pagarkkai, saute a little then add the rest of the spice powders except jaggery.
5.Let it cook with lid on and heat simmered down.
5.When cooked add salt and stir.Add the jaggery and saute for a few seconds. Jaggery will give a sheen to the curry and also complement the bitterness.
      This curry tastes sweet for a second,then bitter, sour ,spicy hot and savory too. Thats something to achieve in one curry. Serve with rice or chapati. Susvaad.

9 comments:

  1. hey the veggie looks good and different..great fusion of all the flavors in one curry..nice..

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  2. Hi
    Karela bhaji looks tempting and delicious..:-))I add jaggary too...

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  3. This looks so delicious. I wish you would adopt me so I could eat your cooking everyday!

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  4. Hi Ramya,

    I absolutely adore Pagarkkai or pavakkai as we call it at our house...usually make pitlay or a dry subzi with it(for rotis) this one is so simple and sounds so tasty...my husband adores this veggie too...so this is something I can try out almost immediately since we always have it on our weekly grocery list!!!

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  5. seems like a delicious one by the recipe...i always fry bittergourd but never done it this way...looks very nice...

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  6. I was making pavakkai this way ( minus tamarind paste) until I read your earlier post - the pavakka fry and my husband loved it.
    Your picture looks so inviting that I am unable to decide which one is yummier! :)

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  7. Love the way this veggie looks. It almost wants me to try it now for its health benefits. But the bitterness of karela is something that holds me back. But one of these days I will definitely muster courage and try it. My father and my father in law love it so I will try it.

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  8. Wow, I made this and it came out YUMM!! So, I can say Tried and Tesed!!

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