This is yet another recipe that I had changed at the last moment for the alphabet P. Like I mentioned earlier, this is a very busy time for me in the kitchen. The vegetables are being harvested at full force and I am constantly chopping, preserving and cooking them. Lot of recipes that I made for this marathon was based on what is growing in my backyard.
This year among the seeds of bitter gourd that we planted, we found that few were seeds of the small tiny variety, which is also called the midhi Pavakkai in Tamil. They were so cute to see on the vine. The usual recipe that I make with the bitter gourd is pavakkai Pitlay and pavakkai curry. Thinking of a different recipe to make, I remembered a pickle that I had eaten made of bitter gourd. I think Priya pickles have the bitter gourd variety.
The recipe is pretty straightforward and my mother suggested that I had a little bit of sesame powder at the end to give it a different flavor. So I chose this recipe for my letter P under the regional category.
A-Z Marathon – Alphabet P
Category – Regional
Preparation time – 10 mins
Cooking time – 30 mins
Difficulty level – easy
Ingredients – (makes about 1 cup of pickle)
- Pavakkai/ bitter Gourd/ bitter melon – 2 cups (chopped)
- Oil – 2 tbsp plus about ½ cup to fry the bitter gourd
- Tamarind paste – 1 tsp dissolved in about ½ cup of water (or thick tamarind extract ½ cup)
- Jaggery or brown sugar – 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – 1tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
- Red chili powder – 2 tsp (this was medium spicy for us, adjust based on your spice preference)
- Asafetida – ¼ tsp
- Roasted fenugreek powder – ½ tsp
- Roasted sesame powder – 2 tsp
- Salt – to taste
- Fenugreek powder – Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and once cooled grind it into a smooth powder. Store in an airtight container and use as needed.
- Sesame powder – dry roast the white sesame seeds until golden brown and then grind it into a smooth powder.
- Cut the bitter gourd vertically and remove all the seeds from the center. Use a spoon to scrape the flesh and the seeds. Now chop the bitter gourd finely and wash it well.
- To the chopped bitter gourd add about ½ tsp of turmeric powder and 1 tsp of salt and mix well. Keep it aside for about 30 mins.
- After 30 mins, you will notice that the bitter gourd has let out lot of water. Squeeze the water out of the melon.
- Heat about ½ cup of oil in a pan and fry the chopped pavakkai. Make sure that you don’t use more oil, since this oil cannot be reused and has to be discarded.
- Fry the pavakkai until it is golden brown. Drain it and keep aside.
- In another pan, heat about 2 tbsp of oil. Season with mustard seeds, asafetida and ½ tsp of turmeric powder. Also add the red chili powder.
- Now add the fried pavakkai, tamarind extract, brown sugar and salt. Let it come to a boil and then simmer until the pickle thickens.
- Add the sesame powder and fenugreek powder mix well and take it off the flame. Do not cook too long after the fenugreek powder is added, since it will become bitter.
- Let it cool down and then store in an airtight container.
- Enjoy with curd rice, idli, dosa or roti!
Pickle with bitter ours , I have never seen or heard . It must be yummy and a must try as I love bitter gourd!
bookmarked!!! looks very very delicious!!!
Sowmya
this sounds amazing and very easy 2, am surely trying this out!
wow very very delicious looking bitter gourd pickle 🙂 tempting me !! 🙂
Excellent and mouthwatering pickle…. Pics look delicious.
Wow that new to me and Temtping so much…
Nice pickle and karela pickle is new for me as well!
Seriously my mouth is just watering here, surely am gonna make some soon..
Pavakkai achar looks delicious.
The bittergourds so look so cute 🙂 .And this must be a great side dish with curd rice..
karela goes in the same bucket as eggplant in my world but your step by step photos are great for anyone who wants to try this and my Mom would love it!
Very nice one Sandhya..though I am not sure if I would taste it..LOL..I can make this for my folks..
Bookmarked , very nice recipe
Such a yummy pickle.. Can imagine how good it must have tasted.
Looks like a tongue tickling pickle…
Thank you for the recipe. I love Karela and always buy small bottles of it. Now I can make it myself.
My husband will like it for sure!
Love the recipe… very new.
I love bitter gourd so this is bookmarked.