It was the Sunday before Eid and I was not really looking forward to dragging myself to office when the rest of Mumbai seemed to be jubilant about an extended weekend. Ek Tha Tiger at Paradise was to be the Sunday evening excitement with Peter, Sumit and Doyal.
Since Doyal would be coming all the way to Mahim from Bhandup, it was only fitting that I cook a meal for her to save her the hassle of making lunch before landing up.
I ducked into the fridge and realized that Karela was among the vegetable du jour (since I'd struck a deal with the veggie vendor earlier on Saturday).
Washed well, the seeds quickly got removed out and discarded...
I sliced the karela/করলা and then quartered them into little bits
Next I added salt (and later a little water to soak the bits)
I drained the salt water after half and hour and gave a bits a squeeze before heating a couple of table spoons of oil in the non-stick and tossing the lot it. The salt seeps into the karela and negates part of the bitterness and enhances the flavour as well.
I wanted an alternative to deep frying (since I wanted the karela nice and crisp), so I put the flame on sim and slowly let the karela bits crisp.
I constantly tossed the bits around so that they are uniformly browned. Just before they are done, they start to look browned like this...
Once done, I set the crispy and already-interesting-tasting karela bits aside..
While they bits were frying, I took an onion and a couple of tomatoes
The onions, I cut up into slivers and the tomatoes into small slices. I also took a half inch piece of ginger and ground it in the pestle and mortar.
Next came the old favourite, paanch phoron...
I splashed a little mustard oil (সর্ষের তেল) and put in the paanch phoron and ginger to sputter and release the heavenly aroma..
Next, the onion slivers joined the phorni (ফোড়ন or फोड़नी)...
Once the onions were a little 'glassy', the tomatoes went in as well...
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| Dhania Powder |
I added a little dhania powder (ধনের গুড়ো) to the mix and slow cooked them for a few minutes...
Once, all this was well assimilated, I added a little amchur (আমচুর/आम्चुर or dried raw mango powder). This was intended to add a curious little tang and negate the remaining bitterness of the karela.
Then of course the pre-fried bits got added and I quickly moved the mix around in the pan to coat the karela bits with the mixture, taking care that the crispness remained as far as possible.
A few seconds later I was done with the fried karela start to the meal...
