Sweet-Sour karela (Bitter gourd) curry

Some time back, we had this awesome sweet and sour karela curry @ kanua, and since then, I always wanted to make it at home. This weekend, I decided to give it a try - here is the recipe I tried:

Karela (bitter gourd) - 3 nos (medium size – pick the white ones if you don’t like the bitter taste – the greener the karela, the bitter the taste) )

Toor Dal - a bit

Urd Dal - a bit

Salt - to taste

Chili powder - a bit

Turmeric powder - a bit

Jaggery - to taste (I used 3 vellams - if you want the curry to be sweet, add more Jaggery)

Tamarind - a small piece

Red chilli - 2-3 nos

Curry leaves

Lemon - one half

rasam powder - 1-1.5 tbsp

Wash and split the karela. Clean the inside and cut into small slices. Mix this with salt and turmeric powder and keep for about 15 minutes.

Soak the tamarind in water and keep it aside.

Mince the jaggery and make powder.

Take a non-stick tawa and heat oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds stop spluttering, add urd dal and toor dal and fry till they are light brown. Add red chili and curry leaves to this, and then add the karela. Keep it on a medium flame till the karela is almost cooked. Add a bit of water to this and add the tamarind paste, rasam powder and jaggery. Squeeze one half of lemon and add the juice to this. Cook till the curry is dry. Serve it with rice or chapathi.