STUFFED & GRILLED KARELA

Stuffed & Grilled Karela

I learned to make Stuffed Karela (Bitter Gourd) from Tina, who used to cook in our home. I have made a couple of improvisations to the recipe and recently, grilled the Stuffed Karela in my OTG to get the most scrumptious dish ever.

Ingredients

Karela (Bitter Gourd) – 250 gm (2-3 medium sized ones)
Haldi (Turmeric powder) – 1 pinch
Salt – to taste
Oil – 3 tbsp
Rai – ½ tsp
Jeera – ½ tsp
White Til (sesame seeds) – ½ tsp

For Stuffing

Besan (Channe ka atta) – 3 tbsp (dry roasted till it turns reddish)
Roasted peanuts – a handful
Green Chillies – 2-3
Ginger – ½ inch piece
Garlic – 4-6 cloves
Jaggery – 2 tsp
Hing (Asafoetida) – 1 pinch
Coriander Leaves – 2 tsp (chopped)
Grated coconut – 3 tbsp

Method

1. Cut each karela into three pieces along the length and remove the inside flesh completely along with the seeds and retain the shells.
2. Immerse the pieces of karela in a vessel with water, adding a pinch of haldi and salt. Boil it for about ten minutes or until the karela turns soft. Drain the water and keep the cooked karela to cool.
3. Dry grind the roasted peanuts, green chillies, ginger, garlic and jaggery into a coarse powdery paste. (Do not use water for this).
4. Add the grated coconut, chopped coriander, hing and some salt to the ground mixture and use this to stuff the karelas.
5. Take a kadai and heat 2 tbsp oil in it. Crackle the rai, then the jeera and til in it.
6. Place the karelas side by side in the kadai and cook it for 2-3 minutes turning gently.
7. Switch off the gas.
8. Preheat the oven at 250 degrees for 10 minutes.
9. Take a baking tray and brush it with a thin coat of oil.
10. Place the karelas in the tray side by side and grill it in the Oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes in total.
11. Once the timer crosses ten minutes, remove the tray and turn the karela pieces around gently and put the tray back in the oven for the next ten minutes.

Delicious Stuffed & Grilled Karelas make a tasty side dish with both rotis and rice.