Pagarkai Pitlai (Bitter gourd)

Ingredients:

Pagaikai (Bitter gourd) – 1

Boiled channa – 1 cup

Tamarind - lemon sized ball

Jaggery – a small piece

Cooked tuar dal – 1 cup

Sambar powder – 1 teaspoon

Sesame Oil – 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds – ¼ teaspoon

Salt – 2 teaspoons

Hing – ¼ teaspoon

Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon

Roast & Grind:

Channa dal – 2 teaspoons

Urad dal – 1 teaspoon

Coriander seeds – 2 teaspoons

Curry leaves – 10

Coconut – 4 teaspoons (grated)

Method:

1. Roast the ingredients mentioned with ½ teaspoon of sesame oil.
2. Allow cooling & grind to paste, keep aside.
3. Soak tamarind in water for half hour in 2 glasses of water.
4. To prepare tamarind extract squeeze tamarind in water & filter the water. (Throw away the squeezed tamarind)
5. Cut pagarkai (after removing the central portions) to thick slices.
6. Add pagarkai pieces to tamarind water; also add sambar powder, turmeric powder, hing, salt & jaggery.
7. Allow boiling till raw smell vanishes.
8. Add ground paste, cooked tuar dal, boiled channa.
9. Allow boiling for a few minutes.
10. Heat ½ teaspoon of sesame oil, add mustard seeds allow spluttering.
11. Add fenugreek seeds & fry till golden brown colour.
12. Add seasoning to pitlai & serve hot with rice.