Khatta Meetha Karela

Health benefits of Bitter Gourd or Karela are many. But it's not easy to feed them to everyone due to its bitterness. Here is a simple recipe that I tried from Archana's Kitchen & my son & in laws just loved it.

Ingredients
6 bitter gourd
¼ tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp asafoetida powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp cumin powder
1 tsp dry mango powder OR 1 tbsp tamarind paste
4-5 curry leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp of jaggery, or more to suit your taste
¼ cup of roasted crushed peanuts
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp of freshly chopped coriander leaves

Method
Scrape bitter gourd lightly, slit & remove seeds if they are hard.
Boil bitter gourd in salty water for few mins & dice them.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat.
Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and allow them to crackle.
To this add the asafoetida, turmeric powder & stir in the steamed bitter gourd and simmer for a few minutes.
Stir in the red chilli powder, dry mango powder or tamarind paste, coriander powder, cumin powder & jaggery.
Continue to stir on low flame, until the jaggery melts & gets well combined into the vegetable.
Turn off the heat at this stage & stir in the crushed peanuts & coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Tips
* I made it without peanuts as my Father-in-Law has it's allergy
* You can use tamarind paste instead of mango powder.
* Don't over boil bitter gourd.