Few days back, I got a comment here from Dr K. B. Malya . Through the link given in his comment, I reached his site Mangaloreworld.com (which does not look like working anymore). I found an amazing amount of information including many recipes on the site. The thing which took me back again and again to the site was the great enthusiasm by which Dr Malya (fondly called as Baab) is presenting the information about so many things, people, and recipes of Mangalore. I saw this Karathe Kismuri recipe on that site. It was one of those forgotten recipes at my home.
My family is not very fond of bitter gourd. But this is one dish that they don’t complain about. V even buys bitter gourd and asks me to make this. It is such a simple recipe, so I have been making it regularly.
Pictorial: Cut bitter gourd into thin pieces and fry them till they are crispy.
In a bowl, mix coconut, coconut, chilli powder, tamarind, salt. Mix well. While serving, add the bitter gourd.
Bitter Gourd Chutney (Karathe Kismuri)
Ingredients
- 3/4 bitter gourd karela/karathe
- 1/2 cup onion cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
- 1/2 tea spn chilli powder
- 1/2 tea spn tamarind extract
- Oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Cut the bitter gourd into small squares, add salt to it and keep aside for 30mins (Even the frozen bitter gourd can be used). Squeeze the water to remove bitterness. Add some water and squeeze the pieces again. (By doing this, we are removing the bitterness, along with it we are discarding some of the medicinal values of bitter gourd. So if you can tolerate the bitter taste, do not squeeze the water from the vegetable).
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the bitter gourd pieces till they become crispy.
- In a bowl, mix onion pieces, chili powder, tamarind, coconut and salt. (mix well with hands).
- Just before serving, mix fried bitter gourd (do not mix before, because the bitter gourd should be crispy to get the best taste of kismuri).
Bitter Gourd Chutney (Karathe Kismuri)
Ingredients
- 3/4 bitter gourd karela/karathe
- 1/2 cup onion cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
- 1/2 tea spn chilli powder
- 1/2 tea spn tamarind extract
- Oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Cut the bitter gourd into small squares, add salt to it and keep aside for 30mins (Even the frozen bitter gourd can be used). Squeeze the water to remove bitterness. Add some water and squeeze the pieces again. (By doing this, we are removing the bitterness, along with it we are discarding some of the medicinal values of bitter gourd. So if you can tolerate the bitter taste, do not squeeze the water from the vegetable).
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the bitter gourd pieces till they become crispy.
- In a bowl, mix onion pieces, chili powder, tamarind, coconut and salt. (mix well with hands).
- Just before serving, mix fried bitter gourd (do not mix before, because the bitter gourd should be crispy to get the best taste of kismuri).
Mixed vegetable curry or ‘gajbaje’ (randayi means a side dish with coconut masala) is one of the most popular dishes among Konkanis. It is usually prepared using vegetables like okra, ridge gourd and cucumber (Usually a special kind of cucumber called as magge or moggem in Konkani is used for this dish. Cucumber can be used instead of magge since both taste almost same. Unlike cucumber, magge cannot be eaten raw). There are two types of ‘Gajbaje’ popular among Konkanis. Among the fish eating Konkanis (Living in North Kanara district) and Marathis of Belgaum (I am referring to my pachi, mom’s sister, who is a deshpande), this dish is prepared with teppal/tirphal and toor daal. Among the vegetarian Konkanis(living in South Kanara ), a lot more vegetables are used for this dish and prepared only with coconut (Vaishali has mentioned the recipe here . I did not know about this version till Aruna sent me the recipe. Then I saw the same recipe in Vaishali’s blog).
At my native, this dish is a must in most of the festivals and weddings. Usually we use the three vegetables mentioned above because most of the people grow these vegetables at home and are easily available in market also. I saw in my pachi’s house, they use lot more vegetables and I loved the corn cob used in the dish(At my native, corn is not available easily and it is not use for this dish). This dish is a must for Ganapathi pooja at their home.
When I read about Independence Day parade , I asked my brother to give me a suggestion for the event. His idea was superb, but a lot more difficult to achieve with my skills. So I simplified his idea and thought of sending this dish to the event. This is one of my all time favorite side dishes and the most famous side dishes I could think of, only after mooga randayi . So this would be an entry from Konkan to the event. (Indira, I hope you accept this. I have tried my best to take good pictures with the limited resources I have).
Since this is an entry for Independence day, here is what I thought about the ingredients. The picture speaks itself.
Ingredients: Coconut ¾ cup Toor daal ½ cup Turmeric a pinch Vegetables (like cucumber, ridge gourd, corn, okra) 1 and half cups Teppal/tirphal 3-4 Kokum pieces 2-3 Red chilies 4-5 Salt
If kokum is not available, add tamarind. Teppal/tirphal(also called as sichuan pepper) can be ignored since it is not available here in US. But this gives a different taste to the dish.
Method: Cook toor daal with a pinch of turmeric. Cook the vegetables in enough water (take care not to overcook the vegetables, do not cook them along with daal, they cook faster and daal remains hard if both are mixed). Grind coconut and chilies to a very smooth paste. Add masala and vegetables to the cooked daal and boil. Add the kokum pieces. Crush the teppal/tirphal in one table spoon water and add it to the curry. Cook till the masala thickens a bit (This is a watery side dish, so do not make it too dry). Serve with rice and daali thoy .
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 30mins
