HAGALAKAI/KARELA/BITTER GOURD CHUTNEY

This is a wonderful tasting chutney, a combination of bitter, sour and sweet. Goes very well with hot rice and ghee and can be a good accompaniment with chapathi etc.

Ingredients:

Bittergourd                        1/2 kg

Onions                              4-5 medium

Salt                                   4 level teaspoons

Sarina pudi                       4 teaspoons (heaped)

Tamarind                          1 big lemon sized or 1 1/2-2 tablespoons thick paste 

Jaaggery                           1 cup (powdered) or ¾ cup thick syrup

For seasoning:       

Oil                                     4-5 tablespoons

Mustard seeds                  2 teaspoons

Curry leaves                     8-10

Ingu/asafetida                 ¼ teaspoon

Turmeric                           ¼ teaspoon 

Procedure:

Chop bitter gourd into about 1” pieces and slice the onions. Let the volume of sliced onions be about half that of chopped bitter gourd.

Run them in the mixer along with salt and tamarind into a coarse mixture.

Now heat oil in a thick pan. Add mustard seeds. When they sputter add curry leaves, turmeric and asafetida. And immediately add the ground paste. Fry till the mixture does not smell raw any longer and it leaves the sides of the pan.

Now add jaggery and mix well. Add sarina pudi and mix well again and cook till it thickens and leave the sides of the pan.

Allow it to cool and store in bottles or steel boxes.

Will stay good in the fridge for months.