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The Sweetest Surprise: My Kaju Karela Sabji Recipe Will Change Your Mind About Bitter Gourd.
Kaju karela sabji is a Gujarati-style stir-fry dish made with bitter gourd (karela) and cashews (kaju). The dish balances the bitterness of the karela with the sweetness of jaggery, the tang of dry mango powder, and the crunch of cashews. This combination of flavors makes it a popular dish, especially among those who might otherwise avoid bitter gourd. It is often served with roti, puri, or rice and dal.
Karela is known for several potential health benefits, including:
* Regulating blood sugar levels.
* Supporting liver health.
* Aiding digestion.
* Having detoxifying properties.
The cashews add healthy fats and protein, while other ingredients like sesame seeds and jaggery provide calcium and iron.
Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 10 to 12 minutes
Serves - 2 persons
Ingredients to make Kaju Karela Sabji:
250 grams karela (bitter gourd)
100 gram broken cashew
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil
1/8 teaspoon carrom seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
1 tablespoon red chilli powder
2 to 3 tablespoons jaggery/powder sugar
Method to make Kaju Karela Sabji:
Wash and wipe karela with clean cloth. Remove skin from it, and chop it as thin as you can. So that large seeds discard automatically.
Now add salt to it and mix well. Keep a side these marinated karela for minimum 30 minutes.
Squeeze out extra salted water from it. Try to remove as much as seeds from it.
In a nonstick kadai (pan) heat oil and add carrom seeds to it.
Add hing and turmeric powder to it when carrom seeds became brown.
Now it's time to add squeezed karela to it. Mix well and cook for minimum 5 minutes or until it cooks properly. Add broken cashew to it and cook them.
When ready add all remaining dry spices.
Mix well and now add grated jaggery or powder sugar to it. Mix well.
Let the extra water of jaggery/sugar burn. Check the taste of ready sabji, as you if you need more sweet to cut bitterness you can always add more jaggery/powder sugar.
Tips to reduce the bitterness of the karela, recipes often suggest steps like:
* Washing, removing skin and cutting the karela, then marinating it with salt or lemon juice.
* Squeezing the water out of the karela after marinating.
* Using ingredients like jaggery/besan (gram flour) during cooking.
