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Kakarakaya Karam | Guntur Kakarakaya Kaaram Recipe | Guntur Kaaram | Bitter Gourd Kaaram

Pickles & Chutneys | vegetarian

  • Prep Time 10 Mins
  • Cook Time 60 Mins
  • Resting Time 30 Mins
  • Servings 4

Ingredients

  • To soak the Karela:
  • ½ kg Scraped and cleaned Karela slices
  • 1 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • To boil the Karela:
  • 1 cup Sour Buttermilk
  • Tamarind - Size of a Gooseberry
  • For the Spice Powder:
  • 3 tbsp Oil
  • 2 tbsp Chana Dal
  • 1 tbsp Urad Dal
  • 1 tbsp Dhaniya Sabut
  • 1 tsp Zeera
  • 1 ¼ tbsp Salt
  • ½ cup Garlic Cloves
  • 4 - 5 tbsp Red chilli Powder
  • Over-all Seasoning:
  • ½ cup Oil
  • ¼ cup Jaggery

Instructions

  1. Take ½ Kg Karela, scrape the rough surface and cut into ½ Inch pieces.
  2. Apply Turmeric and Salt and let it soak in well. Leave aside for 30 minutes and squeeze out the moisture tightly.
  3. Once the bitter liquid is squeezed out, add Sour Buttermilk and a bit of Tamarind to the KArela pieces. Cover the vessel and let the Karela cook on medium heat till all the Buttermilk evaporates. Keep this aside.
  4. Heat oil and fry the Chana Dal, Urad Dal, Zeera and Dhaniya seeds steadily on medium flame till a nice aroma emanates and the spices turn brown.
  5. Take the fried Dals into a mixie Jar. Add all the other ingredients for the spice Powder and grind coarsely just so that all the spices and the garlic are just roughly crushed.
  6. Heat Oil and fry the cooked Karela pieces to a golden brown. Remove Tamarind seeds if there are any.
  7. The Karela pieces will firm up when fried. Now add the Garlic and Dal Masala along with grated Jaggery. Mix well. Take off the flame as soon as the mixture comes to a fast boil or two. Take care not to let the masala get burnt.
  8. Let the Spicy Karela cool for 2-3 hours. Bottle it in a clean dry bottle. The Spicy Karela easily stays fresh for more than a month.