Kakarakaaya/bitter gourd/Karela chips

With bitter gourd / karella / Kakarakaaya, there are only 2 ways to go, either you love it or you have it. People start eating it with all the health benefits it has. I know some peole who start with an easy handling dish like this kakarakaaya (bitter gourd) chips or fry, where it’s not that bitter and actually tastes very good as a side dish for any dal. This dish like many of the other dishes welcomes a new student and always indulgence an old student with its crunchy and unique flavor.

There are so many dishes we can make out of this healthy bitter gourd like Bitter gourd curry, kakarakaaya pulusu, kakarakaaya chips, stuffed kakarakaaya/ bitter gourd, Bitter gourd jaggery fry.

Bitter gourd/ karella / kakarakaaya plant

Here’s a round up for the kakarakaaya chips recipe-

Ingredients-

• 4 long Bitter gourds
• 1 tbsp chili garlic powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 tsp salt ( adjust to taste)
• ½ tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin, urad dal and chana dal.
• ¼ spoon turmeric
• 1 stalk of curry leaves
• dry red chilies

bitter gourd/Karella / kakarakaaya chips thinly sliced

Directions-

1. Wash and cut bitter gourd into thin round slices with a slicer or a mandolin. ( If you cannot handle bitterness, Scrap the rough skin of bitter gourd with a knife or a peeler and cut them into thin round slices. If you still cannot handle the bitterness, add ½ tsp of salt to the chips, mix it thoroughly and let it sit for 10 min with lid closed. Salt extracts moisture, squeeze out the water from chips)
2. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, Add chips and fry them till light brown, don’t burn them.
3. In a separate pan heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add mustard seeds, when they crack, add cumin, turmeric, dry red chilies, urad dal and channa dal, fry them until golden brown and add curry leaves.
4. Add the fried chips to this tempering. Add chili powder and salt and sauté it for a min.
5. Serve with rice and any type of dal. Tastes very good with hot rice and ghee.

Bitter gourd/Karella / kakarakaaya chips ready to be served