Karela dish, it bitter be good
Pushpesh Pant
IN ancient Sanskrit works, karela is referred to as karuvellika. The vegetable — classified as a fruit by botanists — belongs to the cucumber-squash family. We are told it was ‘born’ in the African continent many millennia before the birth of Christ and travelled to India, China and Southeast Asia at a leisurely pace.
Karela is called bitter gourd in English. The name is apt as the vegetable has a distinctly bitter taste. Not many find bitter to be as beautiful and the poor karela is usually avoided. However, the bitter juices it oozes are supposed to be of therapeutic value. Karela is believed to be beneficial to patients of diabetes. It is said to be a blood purifier. In ancient texts of ayurveda, these properties are referred to as time-tested. Some of the claims have been at least partially validated in medical studies in recent years. There are many health-conscious city dwellers who have included in their daily diet more than a mouthful of bitter karela juice.
Karela is cooked in a variety of ways and each region has its own recipe for stir-fried karela or its bharwan (stuffed) incarnation.
Karela has many other names: bitter melon, bitter cucumber, bitter apple, bitter squash. It is known as nigauri in Japan, ampalaya in the Philippines, kugua in China. In Thailand, the bitter melon is used with tiny fiery red chillies, garlic, pork and eggs, with a side dish of rice. In Vietnam, bitter melon, stuffed with glass noodles, mushrooms and meat, is eschewed till it is tender. It plays an important role in the Okinawa cuisine where it is paired with thinly sliced pork and tofu. Please note that that bitter gourd outside India is twice as long in size, plumper and far less bitter.
The recipe of the Thai bitter melon (karela) curry we share this time with you, dear readers, invites you to taste many flavours simultaneously. Interestingly, bitter isn’t the most prominent. It’s a little sour, blended with sweet. The hot chillies make it pungent and, of course, like all Thai curries, it’s subtly aromatic, redolent of lemon grass and kaffir lime, spicy and sweet. You can enjoy it with steamed rice or any bread of your choice that can soak up the flavourful gravy. What’s more, you can choose the hue you wish to serve it in — red, green or yellow. Colour-coded Thai curry pastes are easily available now, even vegetarian ones. Just add tofu/paneer and you have a light summer dish ready in a jiffy. Fret not if you can’t lay your hands on kaffir lime, galangal or lemongrass and tiny birdseye chillies. The curry tastes wonderful without adornments.
Thai bitter melon curry
Ingredients
Karela (bitter melon) 300 gm
Tofu/paneer 150 gm
Sweet bell peppers (red/yellow) 1/2
Tomato (medium) 1
Spring onions 50 gm
Coconut milk 200 ml
Soy sauce (dark) 1 tbsp
Thai curry paste (veg, packaged) 2-3 tbsp
Lime juice 1 tsp
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Curry leaves 10-12
Chillies (red and green) 4-5
Salt To taste
Refined vegetable oil 1 tbsp
Method
Wash, scrape the skin and thinly slice the karela. Remove pith and seeds. Sprinkle with salt and a pinch of turmeric and set aside to sweat for 30 minutes. Wash well. Pat dry and chop into small pieces. Wipe dry bell peppers, remove core and dice. Wash tomatoes and chop. Cut tofu/paneer into 1-inch cubes. Wash chillies and chop finely. Heat oil in a skillet over medium flame heat. Add Thai curry paste and turmeric. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Pour in the coconut milk and stir constantly till it comes to a boil, then stir in the lime juice. Add the peppers, chillies and bitter melon slices. Sprinkle and mix soya sauce. Cover, reduce the heat to sim and cook for about five minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the melon is tender. Stir in the tofu and diced tomatoes. Adjust seasoning and garnish with spring onions and curry leaves.
