Pavakkai Poriyal Recipe, Bitter Gourd Stir-Fry Recipe

Pavakkai Poriyal Recipe, Bitter Gourd Stir-Fry Recipe – Recipe for Pavakkai Poriyal made with the addition of coconut. South Indian Tamil style recipe. Excellent side dish had along with rice.

This pavakkai poriyal / bitter-gourd stir-fry has to be one of the hands-down simple yet best recipes I have learnt from my in-laws place. My in-laws had a cook called Naacha. She came to them at a tender age of 8. She was like a right hand lady to my husband’s grandmother Sinthayamma. Naacha left us (she is in her 80’s now) / retired after Vinodh’s grandmother passed away a few years back. She is a riot of a character and I loved her food a lot. Carefully trained by Vinodh’s grandmother, her dishes were always simple but super high on flavour. Her bitter-gourd stir fry was never bitter but so flavorful and addictive. It’s one of my favorite dishes. She always cooked the stir-fry with lots of garlic, shallots and coconut. Another thing was that she boiled the bitter gourd first with some water and then used the boiled bitter gourd to cook the stir-fry. She would discard the water saying “kasappu ellam thannila poyirumunga”… meaning all the bitterness will go away in the water. When I am making at home, I serve the water as a soup with a pinch of salt added (call it as shots – I drink it in one gulp as no one slurps on bitter-gourd water soup). She always, always cooked with Indian shallots and onions were never a substitute for her. When I have time, I cook with shallots or else, I make it with regular onions and it still tastes great.

Here is a picture of Naacha holding my son when he was a baby.

Here are other Pavakkai Recipes / Bitter gourd recipes from the site.
Bitter Gourd / Pavakkai Recipes
Here is how to do Pavakkai Poriyal Recipe, Bitter Gourd Stir-Fry Recipe

Here is the video of how to make Pavakkai Poriyal Recipe, Bitter Gourd Stir-Fry Recipe

Here is how to make Pavakkai Poriyal Recipe, Bitter Gourd Stir-Fry Recipe
Wash the bitter gourd and clean them. Cut off both the ends. Remove the white part that holds the seeds of the bittergourd. If the bitter gourd has slightly ripened, the insides will be pink and slimy. Just scoop the seeds with a spoon and discard. Proceed with the recipe.

Chop them into small pieces. Boil the bitter gourd with half a cup of water in a pressure cooker. Cook for just one whistle. Wait for the pressure in the cooker to settle naturally. Drain the water and set aside. You can serve the water as a soup. The water will be very bitter so drink it in one shot as its very healthy. Do not discard.

Heat peanut oil in a pan (I prefer non-stick pan for making this dish) and add in the chana dal and urad dal. Saute for a few seconds. Add in the mustard seeds and dried red chillies. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the finely chopped onions, curry leaves and garlic. The roasted garlic adds a nice flavour to the dish.

Saute the onions for a minute. Add in the turmeric powder, salt and the kuzhambu milagai thool. “Kuzhambu milagai thool” is a curry powder used in Tamil households and can be sourced from a south Indian grocery store. If you don’t have “kuzhambu milagai thool”, use store bought Tamil style sambar powder. Even curry powder works well.

Add in the drained pavakkai / bittergourd.

Saute for a good 10-15 minutes on a low flame. Low flame is key for the veggies to get roasted and take on a golden colour. While the veggies are getting roasted, add in a pinch of sugar.

Keep sauteing till the onions and garlic have charred a bit and the bitter-gourd has shrunk and is roasted well and brown in colour. Everything in the pan should be well roasted and golden.

Now add in the fresh shredded coconut and mix well to combine.

Bitter gourd stir-fry / pavakkai poriyal is ready. Serve hot with rice.

Pavakkai Poriyal Recipe, Bitter Gourd Stir-Fry Recipe

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Pavakkai Poriyal Recipe, Bitter Gourd Stir-Fry Recipe – Recipe for Pavakkai Poriyal made with the addition of coconut. South Indian Tamil style recipe. Excellent side dish had along with rice.

• Total Time: 25m
• Yield: 3-4 servings 1x

Ingredients

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Ingredients for making Pavakkai Poriyal / Bitter-Gourd Stir Fry Recipe

• 250 grams bitter gourd (about two bitter gourds)
• 2 tablespoon peanut oil / vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon chana dal
• 1/2 tablespoon split white urad dal
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 dried red chillies
• 1 cup finely chopped onions
• 10 cloves garlic
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Kuzhambu milagai thool (or) sambar powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh shredded coconut

 

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Instructions

• Wash the bitter gourd and clean them. Remove the white part that holds the seeds of the bittergourd. Chop them into small pieces. Boil the bitter gourd with half a cup of water in a pressure cooker. Cook for just one whistle. Wait for the pressure in the cooker to settle naturally. Drain the water and set aside. You can serve the water as a soup. The water will be very bitter so drink it in one shot as its very healthy. Do not discard.
• Heat peanut oil in a pan (I prefer non-stick pan for making this dish) and add in the chana dal and urad dal. Saute for a few seconds. Add in the mustard seeds and dried red chillies. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the finely chopped onions, curry leaves and garlic. The roasted garlic adds a nice flavour to the dish.
• Saute the onions for a minute. Add in the turmeric powder, salt and the kuzhambu milagai thool. “Kuzhambu milagai thool” is a curry powder used in Tamil households and can be sourced from a south Indian grocery store. If you don’t have “kuzhambu milagai thool”, use store bought Tamil style sambar powder for this recipe. Curry powder can also be used.
• Add in the drained pavakkai / bittergourd.
• Saute for a good 10-15 minutes on a low flame. Low flame is key for the veggies to get roasted and take on a golden colour. While the veggies are getting roasted, add in a pinch of sugar.
• Keep sauteing till the onions and garlic have charred a bit and the bitter-gourd has shrunk and is roasted well and brown in colour. Everything in the pan should be well roasted and golden.
• Now add in the fresh shredded coconut and mix well to combine. Bitter gourd stir-fry / pavakkai poriyal is ready. Serve hot with rice.

• Author: Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 5m
• Cook Time: 20m

Keywords: pavakkai poriyal