Bitter Gourd Chips

My children hate bitter gourd. But karela is among my first loves. I remember as a child, my mother would make karela in the solar cooker and they never came out bitter! Stuffed with caramelized onions and raw mango, it was among the most amazing bitter sweet sour tastes to hit the senses!

And now, I have a bounty of bitter gourds – from the farm and from my rooftop garden! Our Didi and I are the only two in this house of five who can devour karelas everyday! The younger one dunks it into sweetened curd and gulps it down. But they have to eat it and so I’ve promised them a surprise.

Little do they know it’s Karela Chips!

4 Bitter Gourds or Karela
2 tablespoon of Besan or Gram Flour
1 tablespoon of Corn Flour
1 tablespoon of Rice Flour
1 tablespoon of Dry Mango Powder or Amchoor
½ teaspoon of Turmeric
Oil for Frying
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon of Red Chilly Powder if you like that punch

– Cut the karelas into slightly thick slices.

– Combine all the other ingredients well and add the slices karelas. You could ad a spoon of oil to bind everything and make it coat the gourds well.

– Deep fry the gourds in hot oil over a medium flame, taking care to not over crowd the pan with them. You can even cook them in an air-fryer as a healthy alternative.

– Fry them till the gourds are golden and crisp.

 

The humble bitter gourd is now up-cycled to a very fancy dish, tucked in between potato fries and topped with mayonnaise and lemon juice!

I can’t wait to see the expressions of my Mini Me-s in some time!

Update – The managed to eat more than they would have chewed normally. Dunked in mayonnaise. And how!