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Karela with kachori masala - Bitter gourd made better

As a child, I didn't have the choice to avoid any foods. Whatever was made at home, I had to eat - and while at that time I hated the rules, I now realise that thanks to this, I appreciate all kinds of foods today. Bitter gourd was one exception though at that time, where I would have the option to
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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup moong dal water soaked in hot .
  • 1 - 2 tsps rice bran cooking oil or any light .
Whole spices for tempering
  • Mustard seeds (rai).
  • Cumin seeds (jeera).
  • Fennel seeds (saunf).
  • seeds Carom (ajwain).
  • 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds .
Spice powders
  • Pinch asafoetida pure .
  • 1 tsp coriander powder .
  • 1 tsp cumin powder .
  • 1 tsp red chilli more of powder .
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder .
  • 1 teaspoon mango powder dried (amchur)
  • 1 tsp tamarind (or) paste
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice (or)
Others
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional).
  • 1 tbsp jaggery crushed .
  • to taste Salt .
  • coriander . Fresh to garnish
  • coconut Freshly scraped for garnish (optional).

Method
 

  1. Scrub and wash bitter gourds well. Top and tail them. Cut them open vertically. Scoop out all seeds and membranes inside. Slice them under a cm thin. If necessary, cut once more vertically to give smaller sized slices. I like to pressure cook them in a vessel without extra water for 7 minutes under pressure for fast, nutrient-loss free cooking. You can either microwave or boil the pieces in salted water. Once the cooker has cooled, remove and keep aside.
  2. In a non stick kadhai, heat oil and add asafoetida first. Immediately, throw in all the whole spices for tempering. Stir just until they start spluttering and changing colour, don't brown / burn any spices. Add the sesame seeds last if using, stir for a minute, until it starts spluttering.
  3. Add the moong dal soaked for about 15 minutes in hot water as it is, or coarsely ground. Stir along with the spices on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup water to this along with all remaining spice powders/ pastes. Stir around for a minute. Cover and less the dal cook for around 5 minutes. We don't want it to turn mushy, just soft.
  4. Next add the cooked slices of bitter gourd, salt and jaggery. Stir well to coat with spices. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust salt and red chilli powder after tasting.
  5. Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with dal rice or with chapatis / parathas and a bowl of yogurt or kadi (that's what I had for lunch).

Notes

Options
You could substitute the moong dal  with 1/2 cup of dry roasted gram flour (besan/kadalai maavu) to make it faster. In that case, just add it when you add the karela slices.
Same method works superbly with snake gourd (pudalankai) - will convert all gourd haters in one bite!
Another method to prepare this is to fill the cavity of one inch sized pieces of either gourd and shallow fry in oil. I don't have the luxury of the time nor the excess oil that the above method uses, so I stick to the low-oil sliced up one.
How to make bitter gourd less bitter
There are a variety of methods here. While I use none of this, as I believe draining the gourd of its bitter jucies reduces its healthful properties, you could use this, especially if you are a first timer with karela.
1. Slice the gourd as described above the previous night and soak overnight in buttermilk or thinned yogurt with a pinch of salt. Cook next morning after draining well. Take care while you add the salt while cooking as the vegetable would have retained some amount of salt in the soaking process.
2. Salt the slices with a tsp of salt and leave in a colander for half to one hour. Wash lightly before cooking to remove excess salt.
3. There's another theory that says soaking in the water in which rice has been washed (starchy water) for a few hours will also remove the bitterness. I haven't tried this one though.