Importance of bitter gourd and its bhurji
Bitter gourd is a nutritious vegetable, but its bitter taste prevents many people from eating it. Feeding bitter gourd vegetable especially to children can be challenging for parents. If you want to make it in a new way, bitter gourd bhurji can be a great option. Made with onions, tomatoes and spices, this dish can add new taste to your daily meals.
Ingredients to make bitter gourd bhurji
To make delicious bitter gourd bhurji, you will need the following ingredients:
- 4 bitter gourd
- 2 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- half teaspoon cumin
- half teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 spoon coriander powder
- Red chilli powder as per taste
- a pinch of asafoetida
- salt as per taste
- 1 spoon lemon juice
- finely chopped coriander
- oil as per requirement
Ways to reduce bitterness of bitter gourd
To enhance the taste of bitter gourd bhurji, first wash the bitter gourd thoroughly and dry it. Then grate them or chop them finely. Now add some salt to the bitter gourd and keep it aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
After some time, squeeze out the water from the bitter gourd. If necessary, wash them gently and drain the water again. Keep in mind that after washing it is important to squeeze the bitter gourd well so that there is not much moisture in it while making Bhurji. This method can help reduce bitterness.
Frying Onions and Spices
Now heat some oil in the pan. Add asafoetida and cumin seeds and let it crackle. After this add finely chopped onion, green chilli and ginger-garlic paste.
Fry all the ingredients on medium flame until the onion turns light golden and the raw smell of ginger-garlic goes away. There is no need to brown the onions too much.
cooking bitter gourd
Now add prepared bitter gourd after applying salt in the pan. Mix onion and bitter gourd well and fry for about 5 to 6 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally so that the bitter gourd does not stick to the pan and cooks evenly.
After this add turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chilli as per taste. Mix all the spices well with the bitter gourd. Keep in mind that the bitter gourd is already salted, so check the taste before adding additional salt.
Tomato and Lemon Flavor
Now add chopped tomatoes and cook the bhurji until the tomatoes become soft and the spices mix well. If the mixture seems dry, you can add some water as needed. However, do not keep the bhurji too wet.
When the bitter gourd is completely cooked, add lemon juice and mix well before turning off the gas. The mild sourness of the lemon helps balance the bitter taste of the bitter gourd. Finally add finely chopped coriander.
Tips to make bitter gourd bhurji more delicious
- Keep applying salt: Keeping bitter gourd with salt for some time and squeezing out the water can help in reducing the bitterness.
- Fry onions well: The mild sweetness of onion balances the flavor of bitter gourd.
- Let the tomatoes ripen: The sourness of tomato combined with spices enhances the taste of bhurji.
- Add salt carefully: Bitter gourd has already been salted, so check the taste before adding salt again.
- Serve Fresh: Serving hot bhurji with roti or paratha tastes better.
conclusion
Bitter gourd bhurji is an easy way to make something different from the everyday vegetable. Its taste can be balanced by the combination of spices, onion, tomato and lemon. If anyone in the house does not like bitter gourd, then this recipe can be tried. However, it is not guaranteed to completely remove the bitterness of bitter gourd; It also depends on its variety and cooking method.