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I may have mentioned once or twice or a few dozen times that, or the first 30 or so years of my life, I hated parakkai (also known as pavakkai, karela, bittermelon or bittergourd - or, if you're my husband, as "green rats"). If you're a karela lover, today's recipe will be right up your street. If you're not a karela lover, this recipe will still be quite a way up your street because you will not taste the bitterness from the vegetable at all.
If you know your karela at all, you would think it's hard to mask the bitterness, but because everything is roasted and there are lots of other ingredients, the resultant powder has no discernible bitterness. At least, none that I could taste. And I didn't even peel the skin or discard the seeds (although if they're red and hard, DO scoop them out and discard) or salt the cut bittergourd to reduce the bitterness. Because I'm lazy and that's the way I roll, baby.
I ate this mixed with rice and ghee, I ate it sprinkled over roasted vegetables, I ate it as a side with kootu and roti, I ate it mixed with yogurt both as a dip and as a salad dressing - it's my most favourite thing at the moment, and it seems to work with everything.
Best of all, since the karela is oven roasted with only a mimimal amount of oil, it's a healthy podi. There are versions where the vegetable is deep fried until crisp, but - while I love deep fried foods with a deep and abiding love - I see no need to load this podi with unnecessary calories.
Recipe for: Bittergourd / pavakkai / karela podi
Ingredients:
3-4 medium size tender karela
10 dried red Kashmiri chillies
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp whole urad dal
2 tbsp chana dal
2 tbsp kollu or horsegram
2 tbsp fresh or frozen grated unsweetened coconut
1 tbsp black sesame seeds (regular will probably also do)
Handful of curry leaves (fresh or frozen)
2-3 cloves of garlic, halved
1 small gooseberry sized ball of tamarind (seeds and strings removed if any)
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp + 1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste (or about 1.5 tsp)
Method:
1. Thinly slice the karela, mix with 1 tbsp oil and roast in a 180C/350F oven until the slices are brown with very little green showing. This should take about 30 minutes, but be sure to stir them around every 10 minutes so that they crisp evenly. Let them cool completely.
2. Heat the oil in a wok and add the red chillies. Roast on a medium-low flame, stirring often until the chillies turn a darker shade, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn them or you'll regret the fumes! Remove to a plate and cool.
3. Add the coriander seeds, the sesame seeds and all the dals. Dry roast them, stirring often, until they are toasted and fragrant, and turn a darker shade. Again, don't burn them or the podi will taste bitter. Add to the roasted chillies and let cool.
4. Finally, add the coconut, curry leaves, garlic and tamarind and toast in the pan, stirring frequently, until the coconut has turned golden brown and has no more moisture in it - yet again, be careful not to burn it.
5. Once all the ingredients are cool, grind them into a slightly coarse powder. Add salt and asafoetida powder and mix well. Store in an airtight container.
I'm sure that there are dozens of recipes for green rice Indian-style on the blogosphere, and dozens more if you were to look for "spinach rice" or "spinach pulao" or "spinach masala rice" or for any such combination that you care to come up with... but, like Frank Sinatra (much) before me, I didn't do it in any of those other dozens of ways - instead, I did it "Myyyyyy Waaaaaaayyy". Just be glad that I cooked it Myyyyyy Waaaaaaayyy, instead of singing it - I don't think that my singing would be particularly appreciated, whereas chances of my recipe being appreciated are quite good... or so I like to think. But, more importantly - what do YOU think?
Recipe for: Spinach black-sesame masala rice
Ingredients:
4-5 cups basmati rice, pre-cooked al dente
1 cup shredded green cabbage (I used savoy)
1 large onion, sliced thinly
2 tbsp chopped mint
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed or left whole
1 tsp ghee
10-15 cashewnuts, broken, for garnish
a pinch of soda bicarb
Salt to taste
For the wet masala
1 cup chopped spinach, loosely packed
1 cup chopped coriander leaves, loosely packed
4-5 green chillies (or as per taste)
1" piece ginger
For the dry masala
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 tbsp tur dal
2-3 dry red chillies (optional)
Method:
1. Grind all the ingredients for the wet masala to a smooth paste and set aside till required.
Do not add any extra water while grinding.
2. Dry-roast the dry masala ingredients in a small pan over medium heat,
stirring frequently, till they are aromatic and the dal is golden brown. Do not let them burn. When cool, grind them to a powder (doesn't have to be very smooth) and reserve.
3. Heat the ghee in a big kadai or wok and fry the cashew nuts till they are a pale golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside till required.
4. In the same pan, heat the 1 tbsp oil. Add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and let them sizzle for 10 seconds, then add the sliced onion.
5. Fry 2-3 till they begin to soften, then add the cabbage.
Stir well, then cover the pan tightly and let the cabbage cook till nearly done, about 7 minutes.
6. Now add the ground spinach masala with a pinch of soda bicarb and fry it for about 5-6 minutes, stirring,
until it loses most of the excess moisture and doesn't smell raw any more.
7. Add the cooked rice now, along with salt to taste,
and mix it in carefully with the masala, without mushing up the grains,
then stir in the dry masala powder.
8. Sprinkle the chopped mint and fried cashewnuts over the rice,
and serve hot along with fried papad/appalam or potato crisps, and onion raita.
RECIPE: SPINACH BLACK-SESAME MASALA RICE
Ingredients:
4-5 cups basmati rice, pre-cooked al dente
1 cup shredded green cabbage (I used savoy)
1 large onion, sliced thinly
2 tbsp chopped mint
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed or left whole
1 tsp ghee
10-15 cashewnuts, broken, for garnish
a pinch of soda bicarb
Salt to taste
For the wet masala
1 cup chopped spinach, loosely packed
1 cup chopped coriander leaves, loosely packed
4-5 green chillies (or as per taste)
1" piece ginger
For the dry masala
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 tbsp tur dal
2-3 dry red chillies (optional)
Method
1. Grind all the ingredients for the wet masala to a smooth paste and set aside till required. Do not add any extra water while grinding.
2. Dry-roast the dry masala ingredients in a small pan over medium heat, stirring frequently, till they are aromatic and the dal is golden brown. Do not let them burn. When cool, grind them to a
powder (doesn't have to be very smooth) and reserve.
3. Heat the ghee in a big kadai or wok and fry the cashew nuts till they are a pale golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside till required.
4. In the same pan, heat the 1 tbsp oil. Add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and let them sizzle for 10 seconds, then add the sliced onion.
5. Fry 2-3 till they begin to soften, then add the cabbage. Stir well, then cover the pan tightly and let the cabbage cook till nearly done, about 7 minutes.
6. Now add the ground spinach masala with a pinch of soda bicarb and fry it for about 5-6 minutes, stirring, until it loses most of the excess moisture and doesn't smell raw any more.
7. Add the cooked rice now, along with salt to taste, and mix it in carefully with the masala without mushing up the grains, then stir in the dry masala powder.
8. Sprinkle the chopped mint and fried cashewnuts over the rice, and serve hot along with fried papad/appalam or potato crisps, and onion raita.
