Fried Stuffed Karela(Yenne Hagalakai)

My mother is visiting for the summer, well, she's been here for 3 weeks now. Of course, I have been eating all her her yummy food as if there's no tomorrow! But then I thought, let me slow down a bit and blog all her recipes... mostly to show my siblings what they are missing ;-) I know they are missing her back home very much... I have missed her for 10 years now. So guys deal with it for now!

Every night while having dinner... eating all her yummy cooking, my mind is constantly thinking of the next thing I want her to make. Some items from my childhood days pop up in my mind and then we talk at length as to who was there when she made it, what happened that day, who liked it the most and who ate how many... yep! we had some strong contenders amongst my cousins!

For the past month, Yenne Hagalakai has been floating around in my mind. I remember my mom making it a long time ago when we were young and some of my cousins were visiting. The only thing I remember is everybody sitting in the kitchen and prepping the karelas... I don't even how it tastes... but just thinking of it, I'm drooling here.

Today she's making it, and finally I get to taste it! Did it taste like how I had it in my mind? Absolutely! It was fantastic!

I have to warn people who are new or have not used this vegetable. Karela is called "Bitter Gourd". And true to it's name it is bitter! To like it, you definitely have to acquire that taste. The key is how you cook it, you really need to know how to handle the bitterness. Once you do that, you'll be a fan of this vegetable for ever! I absolutely love it! So does my DH now!

So here's my mother's recipe and the method - we had 4 very tender small karelas.

Ingredients for the stuffing -

ginger - 1 tsp
garlic - 1 tsp
diced onion - 1/2 cup
chopped curry leaves - 1 tsp
chopped cilantro - 1 tbs
chilli powder - 1/2 tbs
coriander powder - 1/2 tbs
cummin powder - 1 tsp
puttu kadale (dalia) powder - 1 tbs
salt to taste
tamarind paste - 1 tsp
jaggery - 1 tsp

Method -

1. Wash and dry the Karelas. Slit them in the middle without cutting open the edges. Scoop out the pulp from the inside. The Karelas should hollow inside.

2. Rub these empty shells outside and inside with little salt and turmeric. Let it sit for an hour or so. This brings out all the bitterness out and you can squeeze it out. Doesn't taste that bitter now.

3. Prepare the stuffing.
a. In a small pan, heat a teaspoon of oil. Fry the ingredients adding one by one in the following order - curry leaves, garlic, ginger, onion. saute till the onion start to soften.
b. Add chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, cummin powder, puttu kadale powder, tamarind and jaggary. Saute it well and let it cool before stuffing.
c. Stuff this into the hollow karelas and tie a string around them so that the stuffing won't fall out when you fry them. You can either shallow fry them in a pan or deep fry them. We deep fried as we had some left over oil from yesterday. (Amma made bonda yesterday).
d. Yummy fried karela ready! You can have this as an accompaniment with chapathi. Enjoy!

Couscous - quick, easy and delicious!

I have eaten Couscous before in middle-eastern restaurants, at dinner parties etc, but it never caught my attention as it did when I had it at our friend’s in Maine. Nicole had made Couscous one of the days which caught my attention just by its looks; it was looking so pretty and colorful. She had vegetables and beans in it - looked very healthy too. I noticed her twin girls like it and were eating it by themselves. Later, I had a taste of it during lunch and instantly fell in love with it.

I knew I had to get the recipe and try it out at home. Nicole was very kind to share the recipe.

Right after we returned home, I went and bought “Near East Whole Grain Couscous” from a kosher store nearby and tried it out. It was so good and so satisfying. DH is always a bit skeptical about trying new things… but he loved it too. Now it’s a staple in our house.

I have made this so many times now. We have had it as an entree and also as a side dish. Every time it’s a hit!

So, I have stocked up my pantry with whole grain couscous from Trader’s Joe, because I know I’ll be using this very often from now on.

Thanks for the recipe Nicole!

Ingredients:

1 packet Couscous (I used Near East Couscous; any other brand should work fine too.)

Olive oil – 2 tbs
Onion - 1 medium chopped
Garlic – 2 small cloves chopped
Carrot – 1 small; diced into small cubes (I used frozen)
String Beans – 4 or 5, cut into small pieces (I used frozen)
Corn – ½ cup frozen or fresh (I used frozen)
Scallions – 3 or 4; sliced thin
Garbanzo or Chickpeas – ½ can or ½ cup
Black beans – ½ can or ½ cup
Lemon Juice – ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Note: Feel free to add any of your favorite veggies. I’m sure it’ll work with any veggies as long as they don’t turn too mushy.

Method:

Prepare couscous per the instructions on the package. Instead or Olive oil or butter, I used grapeseed oil (Nicole's tip :)) and added a pinch of salt to the water.

In a large skillet, heat Olive oil over a medium high heat and sauté garlic and Onions

Once the onions turn soft, add carrots, beans, corn and continue sautéing till the veggies cook. Takes about 4-5 minutes.

Once the veggies are cooked, add the scallions, chickpeas, black beans.

Add salt and pepper per your taste stir and sauté for a couple more minutes.

While this is cooking, fluff the couscous with a fork and add the couscous to the skillet. Mix everything together.

Turn off the stove, add the lemon juice, mix well and let it sit for a few minutes.

Serve warm or cold as an entrée or a side dish.

Delicious!