Bitterguord(pavakkai) Pappu

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd - 1 medium sized
tamarind extract - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Toor dal - 3/4 cup
Fresh grated coconut - 3/4 cup
Chana dal - 2 tsp
Red chilli - 2 (modify according to your level of spice tolerance)

For tempering:
 
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Split urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few sprigs

Method:

• Cook toor dal till very soft
• Heat a tsp of oil in a pan. Fry chana dal and red chillies in this. Add a pinch of asafoetida and switch off the heat. Once this cools, grind it to a smooth paste along with grated coconut.
• add tamarind extract(3/4 tsp)
• Slice bitter gourd into thin round slices.
• Cook bitter gourd slices in tamarind water to which turmeric powder and salt has been added.
• Once it is cooked, add the ground mixture to this. Boil for 4-5 minutes.
• Then add the cooked toor dal. Mix well and heat for a minute or two. If you feel the curry is too thick at this stage, add a little bit of water.
• Heat a tsp of oil. Season it with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds pop, pour this over the curry.

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Brown rice stuffed bittergourd

This recipe was adapted from Yasmeen's blog. This is very good for diabetic people. You can find some good uses of bitter gourd in the other blog post. Instead of Bulgur we substituted with brown rice that was there in our kitchen pantry. It came out well, that is if you like bitter gourd.

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