Bharwan Karela/ Stuffed Bitter Guard

Bharwan Karela or Stuffed Bitter Guard is a popular Punjabi recipe. I got curious about this recipe after watching the movie 'The Lunchbox' and searched online on this. I found that this recipe can definitely make the most hated vegetable: bitter guard/ karela, taste really good. So I gave it a try. It requires some patience even though the ingredients are quite simple and steps are easy. So give this a try when you can set aside 1-1.5hrs. The sabzi (dry curry) tastes very good with rotis/ phulkas. I think it will taste good with rice too (and a gravy).

Ingredients:

• Karela/ Bitter guards - 2 
• Onions - 2 big
• Ginger-garlic paste (or crushed)
• Edible oil
• Spices
• Red chilly powder - 2 spoon
• Dry mango powder/ Aamchoor powder - 1 spoon
• Turmeric powder - 1 small spoon
• Coriander powder - 1 spoon
• Salt

Note: This sabzi will be better if prepared using small karelas/ bitter guards, but here I have used the regular long ones.

Preparation:

• Mix all the spices in a plate and keep aside.

• Wash the bitter guards/ karelas well and scrap off the outer thick peel.
• If you are using long karelas, then it is better to cut them half and then make a vertical slit. If you are using the small karelas, slit them open. Be careful not to cut them into 2 pieces. The base should stay well as we need to stuff it later.
• Remove all the seeds from the karela using a spoon.

• Marinate the karela with salt and keep it aside for 30 mins.
• Meanwhile julienne the onions. Take a deep frying pan and heat.
• Add edible oil and saute half of the julienned onions in high flame till they turn dark brown.
• Add the ginger garlic paste (or crushed) and saute.
• Add half of the spice mix (not full) and saute for 1 min and turn off the flame. This is our stuffing.

• After 30 mins of wait, you can see that a lot of water is coming out of the karelas.

• Wash the karelas in running water thoroughly. Squeeze out all water from them. All the bitterness will go off now. Make sure that the karelas are dry now.

• Carefully stuff the karelas with the stuffing prepared earlier. Now tie them tight very carefully with a thread so that the stuffing remains intact.

• Heat the deep frying pan once again and pour edible oil.
• Deep fry the tied karelas till they turn brown.

• Heat another pan and pour 3 spoons of edible oil. Saute the julienned onions left and add the rest of the spices. Saute for 2-3 mins.
• Add the deep fried and tied karelas and mix well.
• Cook it with a closed lid for 5 mins.
• The dish is ready to be served. Before serving, remove the threads.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

Bharwan karela which took a lot of your patience is ready now. Once you taste this veggie hot with some hot rotis/ phulkas, you will feel that all your effort was worth it!