Yum! Yum! Yum!: Stuffed Karela Fry (Andhra Style)

Feb 23, 2020

Stuffed Karela Fry (Andhra Style)

Bitter guard is not many people's favorite due to it's bitter taste. However there are people like me who cherishes that bitter taste in this unique vegetable that has medicinal values, when it pairs with other flavorful ingredients. My mom makes the best Karela recipes in different variations. I simply follow her recipes, today bringing stuffed version where Karela is stuffed with flavorful spiced lentils mix paste and sauted with onions and green chilies. This tastes best when served with white rice. This recipe requires some pre-planning and is lengthy procedure (Warning: could test your patience), but the taste is out of the world. When you eat this you will forget all the pain you took in making. Trust me, Try this out, here is the recipe, Njoy!

Stuffed Karela

Ingredients:
Karela / Kakarakaya - 10 to 12

To boil Karela:
Buttermilk - 1cup
Water - 1 cup
Tamarind - 1 Tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Stuffing:
Roasted Chana Dal / Putnala Pappu - 1/2 cup
Dry Coconut powder - 1/4 cup
Red Chilies - 3
Garlic - 3 cloves
Salt - 1 tsp

Onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup

To make Stir-Fry:
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Green Chili - 3 (sliced)
Cilantro - 1/4 cup

Karela Preparation:

Fist roughly peel the skin on Karela and wash in warm salt water
Add Buttermilk, Water, Tamarind, Salt and turmeric to the wide and deep pot. Add Karela to it add boil for 30 to 40 min (or until the liquid evaropates)
Take the Karela into wide plate and let them dry at room temperature ( or keep it in the corner of room where indirect sunlight comes)
Once these Karela are dried, saute the whole karela in 2 tbsp oil and keep them aside.

.
Boiled in Buttermil and Tamarind

Shallow fried in oil

Stuffing Preparation:

First grind Roasted Chana dal, with coconut powder, red chilies, garlic cloves along with salt in a mixie jar, make it into fine powder
Heat 1 Tbsp Oil in the non stick pan, add cumin seeds, followed by chopped onion. Saute for 3 to 4min, until onion becomes translucent.
Add roasted chana dal powder to onions, mix well, add coriander powder, mix well. Once it is all mixed, add water little by little until it becomes like wet stuffing.
Switch off the stove and transfer stuffing to plate and keep it aside.

Method: (Putting everything together)

Heat Non-stick pan, add Oil to it. Add chopped onion and green chili to the pan and saute for 5 min until onions become tender.
In the Boiled and fried Karela make slit in the middle and stuff the stuffing equally, and gently press in your palm. Repeat this until all karela are stuffed. If any stuffing remains, add this to the pan and mix well with onions.
Add stuffed Karela to the pan and mix gently with onion and spices. (saute for 5 min). Finally top with cilantro.
Remove from heat and transfer the karela fry to the serving dish and serve with hot white rice.

Tips:

For this recipe, make sure you pick Karela of medium and equal size, that are tender.
Boiling Karela with Buttermilk and Tamarind takes away the most bitterness of it, making the karela very tender and tasty.
When you stuff you can remove the seeds and stuff inside, but you have to be careful, as it could break the karela, as it will be very soft & tender. Since we pick tender Karela for this recipe, seeds won't be hard and should n't bother that much, they add slight crunch + more flavor.
Ideally it is better to leave the Boiled Karela overnight for it to dry up. Usually i boil the karela the night before if i have to make this today. ( told you this requires some planning).