Pavakkai / Bitter gourd Pitlai
Bitter gourd is a healthy vegetable which is good for diabetic people. When it is combined with toor dhal it is very tasty. The taste of ground spices, tangy tamarind and sweet jaggery compensates for the bitterness of the gourd. Today I am posting Pavakkai pitlai which my mother used to make.
Ingredients
- Bitter gourd - ¼ kg.
- Cooked toor dhal - 1 cup
- Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp.
- Tamarind - lemon sized
- Salt - as needed
- Curry leaves - a handful
- Oil - 2 tsp.
To Grind:
- Red chillies - 10
- Coriander seeds - ½ tsp.
- Ured dhal - 1 tbsp.
- Black pepper - ¼ tsp.
- Grated coconut - ¼ tsp.
Instructions
- Fry the ingredients given for grinding in little oil except coconut.
- When cooled grind with grated coconut to a fine paste.
- Cut the bitter gourd into thin round pieces.
- Add little salt and keep aside for half an hour.
- When salt is added, gourd oozes out little water. Throw away that water. Squeeze pieces and take.
- Take thin tamarind extract and cook bitter gourd by adding salt and turmeric powder.
- When gourd becomes soft, add mased dhal, ground paste cook till it becomes thick.
- Garnish with curry leaves.
Notes
- You can add little jaggery if you want.
- You can also use brinjal, raw banana, malabar yam or pumpkin to make pitlai instead of bitter gourd.