Out Of The Garden

Vaishali’s Bitter Gourd Curry (with peach)

I’m usually pretty fearless when it comes to trying new vegetables, but I’ve been working up to bitter gourd for a while now. The only time I had tasted a vegetable called “bitter” was in a dish from a very authentic neighborhood chinese restaurant by work. Everything they make there is excellent, so I was not prepared for the bitter slices of pale green vegetable swimming in bitter sauce. It was so unpalatable, I had to throw it away. I hate to see waste, so something has to be *really* awful for me to toss it out. That was bitter melon, however, and it was a few years ago; perhaps bitter gourd could be different?

When I read about Vaishali’s new bitter gourd curry recipe, I said I was going to get daring and try it — little did I know it would be so soon. It just so happened that it was the freshest looking vegetable in the shop on Saturday.

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clockwise from top: salted karela slices, fresh crushed garlic, dried red chili, underripe peach chunks

I followed Vaishali’s method with a few exceptions concerning ingredients:

I did not have a green mango, nor hope of finding one, so I used a hard, underripe peach for sour fruit taste. I also added a little amchur powder to the boiling water.

I only cooked one bitter gourd and I adjusted the seasoning quantities accordingly; I did use the full three tablespoons of jaggery called for, however… (did I mention bitter gourd scared me a little )

I also used a dried, deseeded red chili in the tadka, rather than chili powder.

The verdict: with all that jaggery and garlic, how could you not love this! Mine came out more saucy than I believe was intended, but that sauce on hot rice was just delicious. Salting the karela did indeed make it ‘more tolerably bitter’, the peach was slightly tart/sour and the garlic and chili seasoning added a great punch.

Thank you Vaishali and your MIL, too!

Karela chips by way of Indira and Kay, with slightly modified seasoning.

Being a good student of Vaishali , I first salted the karela slices, and then pressed the liquid from them with a light weight (the one medium bitter gourd gave off about 1/2 c liquid after salting).

I did not have red chili-garlic powder, so I used a portion of the seasoning I had mixed up for Meena’s eggplant recipe: garam masala, red chili powder, and amchur powder.

Being a little hesitant about the bitter taste (I once had a chinese restaurant preparation of bitter gourd that scared me off this vegetable), I also added a teaspoon of garlic paste to the oil and seasonings.

I let the slices sit in this ‘marinade’ for a good half hour before broiling them in the toaster oven.

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Meena’s Baingan Fry

For this eggplant recipe I soaked the eggplant slices overnight in salted water. My hope was that waterlogged eggplant wouldn’t soak up as much oil… not sure whether that theory proved out though

Other than that I followed Meena’s recipe exactly.

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Bitter gourd is a bit of an acquired taste for me, but the seasoning was delicious and sliced thin and broiled crisp, I didn’t find it too bitter. The eggplant was rich and silky; a few slices of each made a very filling snack.

Thanks Meena, Indira, and Kay!

I was cleaning up my favorites list this morning. Came across some sites I had bookmarked before all my bookmarks mysteriously turned into blogs…

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Mrs. Lin’s Kitchen
japanese cookware and supplies

Tokyo Food Page

Evergreen Seeds
oriental vegetable seeds – 22 varieties of eggplant alone!
useful for LG’s Green Blog Project

USDA Nutrient Data Lab
searchable database of nutritional info on many foods

NPR Story ~ Freighter Food: From the Galleys of the Great Lakes
interesting tale of cooking on the huge ore boats that ply the Great Lakes
with photos and sound clips

Arthur Hungry
A food blog I was reading before I realised what food blogs were!

BangaliNet
an early dal search

Indian Food Forever
another early dal search

Beginners Guide to Regional Indian Cooking
By Monica Bhide and Chef Sudhir Seth

Maharashtra Food

Oh, look!

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classic ore boat at an ore dock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

It was 2 am after a long day of traveling, and ten days without anything even remotely indian-flavored. Call it a craving, call it crazy; I don’t know what to call it. I wanted mustard seed, curry leaf and cumin, and I wanted it quick!

Quick Fix Rasam Noodle Soup
for desperate late-night cravings

4 oz fine egg noodles
4 oz fresh spinach

1 small can whole tomatoes and their juice (14 oz can)
1 c water
1/4 tsp tamarind concentrate
1 small lump jaggery
1 healthy TB rasam powder

For tempering:
2 tsp butter/ghee (never mind healthy canola oil, this is a craving, after all)
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 fresh curry leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds

Boil egg noodles in sufficient water 5-6 minutes. Add spinach and boil a further 2-3 minutes. Drain in colander and hold aside.

Empty tomatoes and their juice into a medium saucepan and break up tomatoes by hand or with knife and fork. Add 1 c. water, tamarind concentrate, and jaggery. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring, until jaggery dissolves. Add rasam powder and stir well. Simmer over medium heat 10-15 minutes, adjusting seasoning to taste. Add reserved noodles and spinach and heat through.

Make the tempering in a separate pan (too lazy to spell that out tonight) and stir into the tomato/noodle mixture. Bring just to the boil — serve hot with a big spoon and no excuses

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quick fix rasam noodle soup