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Crispy bitter gourd fries | Karela fries (Pavakkai varuval)

by 83 Comments

crispy-bitter-gourd-fries
I never liked pavakkai / bitter gourd / karela. When my mom used to make pavakkai pitlai or sambar when I was a kid, I used to cry while eating… yes! Its compulsory to eat veggies and we had no choice to say NO to any vegetables cooked. I hate that much. She even does pavakkai varuval, never liked it though. But Vj loves pavakkai , but only this deep fried, crispy pavakkai. So I tried making this few times. I used to think, pavakkai should be having bitterness and used to wash so much times and soak in butter milk or water with lemon juice or tamarind extract and try making this crispy fries. But never got perfect crisp fries. But Vj used to say that the key is to slice thinly and evenly. But I never had a hope to get it perfect. Last week he bought bitter gourd and he himself sliced and showed me. I dint do any so called processes to remove the bitterness. Just made it simply and the result is…

Crisp,evenly fried,very very mild bitterness that is a plus for the fries. I was so happy and wanted to record this recipe here. One of my reader also requested to post Karela recipes, so I thought I should try and post here. So today I did to share with you all and keep this recipe recorded here!
Pavakkai-karela-crispy

Crispy bitter gourd fries recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Side dish
Prep Time: 15 mins     |  Cook time: 25 mins     |  Serves: 4

Ingredients

Bitter gourd/ pavakkai – 5-6

Rice flour – 3 tblsp

corn flour – 1 tblsp

Sambar powder/red chilli powder – 1 & 1/2 tsp

Turmeric – 1/4 tsp

Salt – As needed

Water – 1 tblsp(approx.)

Oil – To deep fry

Method

  1. Wash and remove both the tapering ends of the bitter gourd. Slice as thin as possible, mainly all should be even in thickness,so that it gets cooked perfect.

    2. 1-bitter-gourd

  2. Mix rice,corn flours, turmeric, sambar powder,salt with the sliced bitter gourds. Sprinkle water and mix evenly. Do not add more.

    3. 2-bitter-gourd

  3. Heat oil in kadai and when it is hot, add the karelas in sprinkled way. Make sure none of them are stuck to each other. Cook in medium flame until the bubbles and sounds ceases. It should be golden in colour and light in weight. Drain in paper towel.

    4. 3-bitter-gourd

Notes

  • It was not at all bitter in-spite of the fact that I dint do anything special to remove the bitterness! May be deep frying method wont have much bitterness. Instead, when I tried to so something to remove the bitterness, they were not that crisp!
  • Frying in medium flame is must to get cooked evenly and crisp without getting dark in colour.
  • Add water only a little to just make the rice flour hold over the bitter gourd.
  • Remove any big hard seeds if any in the bitter gourd after slicing. If its tender then no need to worry.

Serve as accompaniment for rice or enjoy as such as chips! You can store it in airtight container and use for 2-3 days.

crispy-karela-fry

Reader Interactions

Comments

  9. Swapna Raghu Sanand

    I too hated pavakkai while growing up but it was a strict rule by my grandmother that you can't skip it. So i used to have it. Now when I read your post, I was reminded of how I used to cry while being forced to eat pavakkai but I remember it fondly, in memory of my grandmother who passed away some years back.

    Reply

  10. Anonymous

    I love karela and wish more people whom I cook for shared my love so that I could make it more often. Good thing this keeps for 2-3 days, I could eat a whole batch by myself 🙂

    Reply

  23. Pavithra Elangovan

    Raji same pinch.. I did this today:) I make them exactly the way you do except that I add little besan with the mixture and different seasoning. I will post my version soon. This is my son and our family favorite. Since my son is in spring break I did this today for him.

    Reply

  25. Prathibha

    Bittergourd when deep fried will not be as bitter as when its not and hubby is a big fan of these chips but I dont deep fry much on regular basis..but tried to give d same effect by pre boiling n baking..it tastes good n not bitter too..before I forget lemme say they r always a fav at my place

    Reply

  29. Kavitha Bhargav

    I love it with curd rice. I used to add little salt with the slices and keep aside for 10 minutes after mixing it well. This way it will leave out water and it will be with very less bitterness.

    Reply

  38. Laavanya

    My mom makes this often and this is the only way in which my husband will eat pavakkai too.. I try to bake instead but nothing equals this deep fried goodness! :)Very tempting pics.

    Reply

  43. sangee vijay

    wow…this looks so crispy n yummy…addition of corn flour gives more crisp n taste rt? i use to bake them but i am tempted so much on seeing yours,so will try this soon…superb clicks!!

    Reply

  67. rama vardhini

    Hi, I am a great fan of your blog and I have tried so many recipes from your blog! It has turned out well and got appreciations too! 🙂 Thanks for it…
    By the way can we add curd instead of water to mix with the veggie? As I saw your post where Okra was mixed with curd to bind.

    Thanks,
    Vardhini

    Reply

  69. M.dot

    Hi! This is the first recipe I've tried from your blog. I haven't eaten much karela in my life and didn't think I would like it. But the other day, my husband picked it up while we were grocery shopping… and said – just try a recipe. Looked for some fried karela recipes and zeroed in on yours… and it made for a yummy yummy lunch. Thank you 🙂

    Reply

  81. Raks anand

    It is always better to not re use oil. It will also have bitter gourd smell. If you are fine with these, you can use for tempering. I suggest you to keep little oil and fry in small batches, tiring but less wastage 🙂

    Reply

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