Monday, August 29, 2011

করলা বেগুন (Korola Begun) - Karela/Bitter Gourd with Baingan/Aubergine

This is one of the simplest recipes that I tried after getting my hands on the two volumes by Renuka Debi Chowdhurani-রকমারি আমিস রান্না (Rakamari Amis Ranna) and 

রকমারি নিরামিস রান্না

  (

Rakamari Niramis Ranna)



I could not lay my hands on the kind of বেগুন or baingan (aubergines) that I normally would find in Kolkata. So I settled for the variety that is commonly available here in Mumbai.

I would have ideally wanted to cook উচ্ছে (uch-chay)--a smaller cousin of karela that you get in Bengal but then... 


The most time consuming part about this is the amount of chopping needed. First the karela got chopped into tiny dices...

Then the বেগুন/baingan become little cubes less than a centimetre across...


A little splash of vegetable oil fumed with heat and I tossed in the karela bit while I chopped the baingan.

I sautéed till the karela was a little browned...
I kept the karela aside and heated a few teaspoons of oil in the same pan and added a little sputter of mustard seeds. I used these but the normal ones work and taste just as well... 
... then I added the baingan/বেগুন and cooked it a little but not till mush.
I added the turmeric/haldi/হলুদ mixed with a little water since the original recipe called for হলুদ বাটা or ground fresh root turmeric. 
... after a few tosses, I added the karela in and mixed everything together and cooked for a few minutes more...

And... I was ready to eat :)



No comments:

Post a Comment