Bittergourd has become a latest addition to our diet. Whenever V does shopping at Indian store, he invariably picks up few bittergourds. They have pretty short shelf life, so I have to use them up quickly.Karathe kismuri is the only dish I end up making with it since we love that dish so much. Recently, whenever I fry bittergourd to make this dish, both V and Ishaan keep eating the fried pieces as it is, before even it gets into any dish!. I prepared Aayi’s karathe nonche last time. I was looking for something different again, so I tried this.
I got these small thin potatoes – fingerling potatoes a while back. They taste great roasted just with some garlic and chilli powder. Any potatoes can be used, but these give a nice bite to the dish. A generous squeeze of lemon takes this simple dish to a whole new level. This dish tastes great when made spicy. Serve with rice and simple dal for a comfort meal.
Pictorial:
Fry the bittergourd with salt.
Add the potatoes and cumin seeds.
Add the spices and cook till done.
Spicy Bittergourd-Potato Fry (Karathe Batate Talasani)
Ingredients
- 2-3 bittergourds
- 1/2 lb potatoes about 2 cups when cut
- 1 tbl spn lemon juice
- 1 tea spn chilli powder
- 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
- 1/2 tea spn garam masala
- Oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Cut bittergourd into thin pieces and apply salt.
- Heat little oil in a thick bottomed pan (I use cast iron pan) and fry bittergourd pieces till they are crispy and almost black in color.
- Wash the potatoes well and cut them into bite sized pieces.
- Add the potatoes, cumin seeds to the bittergourd and fry till they are tender (do not add water, fry on low flame).
- Add the spices, a little salt, mix well.
- Sprinkle lemon juice, mix.
- Serve hot.
I bought a Lodge cast iron pan exactly like the one you have got after reading about it in one of your posts. After using it, I wash it with mild soap, and put in back on the stove again to heat it till all water dries up, and then coat it with a thin layer of oil with a paper towel. I notice a black residue on my paper towel when I do this. Is that normal? Is that part of the metal itself or part of the seasoning? Do I need to worry about it?
Rachana, I think it is the seasoning. My pan also did same thing.
Want to try this for sure…
I tried it out..it was yum…jus rice and this was enough..no need of any other curries….
very good post thanks a lot