Karathe Nonche

                                      Bittergourd pickle ( karathe nonche )
                         Bitter gourd is one such vegetable which most people dislike.But please try this traditional Konkani food recipe which will definitely make you a bitter gourd fan. This is very good as a combo with idlis , polos etc.

Ingredients

• Bittergourd    – 1 large sized
• Dried whole red chillies – 15 to 20
• Mustard    –  1 tsp
• Asafoetida (hing)   –   1 tsp
• Tamarind  –   a small lemon sized

Method :-

1. Chop the bitter gourd very finely and apply salt to it .
2. Keep it for some half an hour and later squeeze the bitter juice out of it and then deep fry till they turn  crisp and brown.
3. Fry the red chillies in little oil and remove it from the oil and keep it aside
4. In the same oil fry the mustard and hing till the mustard splutters.
5. Grind the red chillies and tamarind to a smooth paste.
6. Lastly add the fried mustard and hing to it and give one quick round inthe mixer.
7.  Now boil this paste adding sufficient water to make the consistency thin .
8. Turn off when it boils and give a tempering of mustard and curry leaves.
9. Let the gravy cool a little bit, and then only add the fried bittergourd pieces to it.
10. Mix well .It can be served after some 4 or 5 hours..
11. Take care to check for  salt first and add only if required as we have already added salt to d bitter gourd while frying. 

Note:-     Here instead of using fresh bitter gourd , I  have used the sun dried bitter gourd…I deep fried them and followed the same procedure.