Kerala Style Bitter Gourd is a quick and easy bitter gourd recipe. Bitter Gourd or Bitter Bitter Melon is commonly found vegetable in the Asian sub continent. There are mainly 2 kinds of bitter gourds. The Chinese bitter gourds or melons are pale green in colour, and shaped like cucumber, oblong with smooth crinkled skin. The Indian kind of bitter melon are darker green, smaller in size, narrow edges, and harder ridges all over the skin. Both are green on the outside and white inside, with small white seeds. The skin and seed are both edible, although it is recommended to discard the seeds as it is quite bitter in taste. Both kinds have excellent health benefits and are immensely popular in Asian as well as South East Asian cooking.
As the name suggests, bitter gourds or melons taste very bitter and is not very good for the taste buds. This is a vegetable generally disliked by most children. But because of it’s amazing health benefits and it is good to eat this vegetable often.
Here is a bitter gourd recipe from Kerala. This Kerala Style Bitter Gourd is an Air Fryer recipe, unlike the traditional method of deep frying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8wXl42Cejk
Ingredients
Instructions
- Wash and dry the bitter melons. Cut the two ends and slice into thin rounds or semi circles. Discard the seeds in the centre of the vegetable. Slice green chillies into quarters lengthwise.
- Add salt and turmeric to the sliced vegetable and leave aside for about 10 minutes.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F.
- Add a couple of tbsp. of coconut oil to the prepared bitter gourd slices and layer it into the air fryer basket. Do not over crowd.
- Now fry this for about 20 minutes, turning and tossing it a couple of times in between until crispy.
Notes
Traditionally, this recipe is made by deep frying the bitter gourds but making use of an air fryer cuts down the oil content and is a healthier version. The sliced bitter gourds can also be sun dried outside in warmer climates. They are then fried which makes it crispier.