Bitter Gourd Side Dish

This is a quick and easy side dish made from the vegetable called Bitter Gourd. Most people don't like to eat it as it is bitter as the name suggests. When it is fried crisply, it takes away the bitterness and in fact it becomes tasty side dish . It is also quick to make.

It is eaten widely in Asian countries and contains vitamins like Vitamin A, B and C. People who have diabetics take a glass of bitter gourd juice and it is believed to help them by lowering blood pressure and purifying blood tissues. Asians also believe that bitter gourd helps in digestion and stimulates the liver.

Bitter gourds are available in Asian stores. It is better to buy the young immature gourds than the matured ones. The matured ones contain red seeds inside and can be quite bitter whereas the immature young gourds contains white flesh inside and the seeds are also tender and can be fried along with the gourd.If you do buy the mature gourd, wash it and cut it open. Discard the seeds inside with the help of a spoon and blanch the flesh in hot water for a few minutes before frying. Pregnant or breast feeding mothers should avoid bitter gourd. It is an acquired taste and if you try it once, you might love it forever.

Recipe

2 Green bitter gourds

A half teaspoon each of salt, tumeric, garam masala powder or chilli powder

Take about two bitter gourds and chop the ends off. The slice them quite thinly, not too thin but definately not thick slices either. Put in a bowl and sprinkle some tumeric powder, salt and chilli powder or garam masala powder on it. Mix with your hands well, rubbing in the spices on the gourd slices.Leave for a few minutes.

Heat oil in a pan. Deep fry in hot vegetable oil until slightly browned and leave to drain on kitchen paper. Serve with rice and dal or other curries.

Bitter gourd can also be cooked with other vegetables as a soup or fried with other vegetables like potatoes and tomato. In Bhutan, Bitter gourd is eaten as a vegetable dish with chillies and tomato and onions and cheese and is a tasty stew like dish eaten with rice.