Kakarkaya (bitter gouard/karela) fry

Bitter gourd has many medicinal values. Lectin present in it lowers blood glucose concentrations and also suppresses appetite. People with diabetes are advised to take bitter gourd juice every day. It can be used for preventing and treating malaria. But, this is one vegetable that I hated as a child. My mom used to take the juice out of it and made us drink almost every other day. There are different ways in which you can cook this vegetable. It can be deep fried (or stuffed and baked) with palli podi (ground nut powder), or used in pulusu or even pachadi (chutney). But, I like the way my mom cooks it with onions and jaggery. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For popu/tadka:

Chana Dal - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Split urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves
Oil - 1tbsp
Green Chillies - 4 (or more if you like it to be spicy)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

For the actual recipe:

Karela/Bittergourd - 5 to 6 medium sized
Buttermilk - to boil the karela pieces
Onion - 1 large
Jaggery - 2 tbsp (or more as per your taste)

Method:

1. Cut the edges of each bitter gourd and smoothen the surface. (To do this, take the non sharp end of a knife and rub it against the bittergourd up and down. This will take away all the ridges and teeth off of the vegetable).

2. Chop the bittergourd in small pieces, you can use or discard the seeds.
3. Take the chopped pieces and buttermilk into a pan and boil them until the pieces are tender. When they are done, take the pieces out and squeeze the liquid.

4. Heat oil in a frying pan. Put chana dal, mustard seeds, urad dal and cumin seeds. Add green chillies and curry leaves.
5. Add the bittergourd pieces from Step 3. Fry them for about 10 - 15 minutes on medium flame and then add onion (If you don't want to taste the bitterness of the vegetable, deep fry the boiled pieces and then add onion). Fry them until the onion is well cooked.
6. Now add the jaggery and fry the pieces for 5 minutes. Kakarakaya fry is ready.

Note: The water that is collected after squeezing the bittergourd pieces in Step 3 can be consumed with some salt or sugar. If you don't like to put jaggery at the end, just add a couple of tablespoons of pallilu karam podi (peanut powder).