VIRUNDHOMBAL

Today’s recipe is a simple, wholesome Bitter Gourd Fry that’s both flavorful and light, using just 2 tablespoons of oil. It’s a great way to enjoy this nutritious vegetable without overwhelming bitterness. We begin by lightly steaming the sliced bitter gourds, which helps mellow their natural bitterness while preserving their shape. Next, they’re gently tossed with a few basic spices and slow-roasted in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. The result? Crisp, golden edges with deep, earthy flavors — all achieved with minimal oil. Why cast iron? Cooking in cast iron not only enhances texture and flavor but also distributes heat evenly, making it perfect for achieving a delicious roast without soaking in oil. It’s a practical and healthy choice for everyday home cooking. A few tips to get the best results: Steam just until tender – avoid overcooking to keep the slices firm during roasting. Stir occasionally – this helps the pieces brown evenly and prevents sticking. Serve this fry as a perf...

Today we are going to see an interesting aviyal recipe with bitter gourds. Usually we prepare aviyal by cooking the vegetable with required water and then we add coconut paste and finished with either tamarind or curd. In this bitter gourd aviyal, to reduce the bitterness we have to cook the bitter gourds in the tamarind extract until soft and then we have to add the coconut paste. Generally for bitter gourd recipes if we add sour, salt, spice and oil in a good amount it can balance the bitter taste. Plus cooking the bitter gourds  along with small onions with rich flavours like coconut oil also enhances the taste. This bitter gourd aviyal tastes good with sambar , pulikuzhambu and kara kuzhambu . In this aviyal recipe, I have added red chilly powder instead of green chillies but you can add dried red chilli to it. Now let's see how to prepare bitter gourd aviyal with step by step instructions. Check out my other Aviyal recipes Tirunelveli Aviyal Bottle Gourd (Sur...

Baby bitter gourd stir fry - in Tamil we call this vegetable as mithi pavakkai. I like this bitter gourds very much because it has less bitterness when compared to the regular bitter gourds. This poriyal tastes so good with our Tirunelveli pulikuzhambu.

Bitter Gourd Pitlai - an easy South Indian kuzhambu made with bitter gourds, toor dal flavoured with a good amount of red chillies, coriander seeds, chana dal, coconut and other spices. I guarantee this kuzhambu will surely impress your family. We always prefer kuzhambu with a good aroma and perfect balance of heat with a hint of tanginess.  

Pachadi is prepared in two different methods - some are prepared with fresh curd while the other method is we have to cook the vegetable along with onions and tomatoes. Bitter gourd pachadi is prepared by the second method. Since bitter gourds have bitterness we have to add a good amount of chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, tamarind extract and finally a piece of jaggery. The coconut paste is the main ingredient in our cooking, so it is included in this dish also. There are many dishes with bitter gourd that we regularly prepare for our lunch, but this bitter gourd pachadi is extremely different with different flavours. This recipe is also similar to my ladies finger pachadi and the only extra ingredient in this dish is the jaggery. We will see the recipe in detail with step by step instructions.

Bitter gourd/Pavaikkai  thuvaram/Stir fry with onions and coconuts Bitter gourd is cooked in a variety of ways. It is sometimes fried, steamed or roasted. But in this recipe , the bitter gourd  is pre cooked  and sauted with equal amount of onions and in addition we have to add cooked toor dal & coconut paste. The coconut paste and the onions, add flavour, colour and taste to the dish. Usually the bitter gourd is cooked in gingely oil or sunflower oil but I recommend to use coconut oil for this thuvaram. This is because the sweetness and flavour in the coconut oil enhances the taste and reduces the bitterness in the bitter gourd.

Bitter gourd fry (Pan fried bitter gourds with gram flour and rice flour) Usually cooking bitter gourd without the bitterness is really tough, but if you cook them with simple techniques you can really enjoy the dish. This dish is crisp in taste and easy to prepare. This is a very good side dish for sambar, rasam, pulikuzhambu and South Indian rice varieties. Let's see how to prepare this Bitter gourd fry with step by step photos.