Crispy bitter gourd chips | Karela chips | How to make pavakkai varuval with step by step photos.
This crispy and crunchy chips is a deep fried chips are mildly spicy, bitter and salty in a balanced way to make it addictive.
This bitter gourd chips recipe is a gluten free one with rice flour and the karela (bitter gourd/ pavakkai) also is coated with spices.
Ingredients
Bitter gourd - I used bitter gourd from Malaysia, Indian karela works too. Usually the long variety or medium length variety works well than the mini / tiny midhi pavakkai.
How to choose (buy) bitter gourd pavakkai? Choose green and firm ones and avoid yellow/ orangish and soft ones. A young bitter gourd works best than old one because the later has hard seeds and will be tough to slice.
Flours - I use only rice flour and corn flour, no besan in this as we always make varuvals with rice flour and corn flour alone.
Because of it, the chips are light, airy and stays crisp longer.
Despite the flour used, the crispiness depends on how the mixture is coated with spice and the method it is deep fried.
Spices - You can add chilli powder and coriander powder with turmeric. But I use my sambar powder which is mostly the above.
If you are using red chilli powder, make sure to use a spicy one, not the reddish Kashmiri chilli powder.
My notes
This pavakkai/ bitter gourd/ pavakkai is Malaysian variety. If you are using Indian karela, and depending on the variety you get, it may be too much bitter.
Here are some ways to get rid of bitterness:
- Soak in sour buttermilk. Then wash off and squeeze the excess moisture away.
- Marinate with salt, turmeric and lemon juice / tamarind extract and later squeeze out the extra water that leaves out from karela.
- After mixing the flour I make immediately or keep it refrigerated and fry within 2-3 hours maximum.
- The fried karela chips must be store only after cooling down in an airtight container. I refrigerate so that it stays crisp longer.
Top tips
Here are some tips to make perfect karela chips:
- Firstly slice the bitter gourd thin and even. Use a mandoline slicer if you have a sharp one. this ensures uniform thickness.
- Secondly coat the slices with spices and flour just right. Neither too dry nor watery/ too gooey. You should be able to sprinkle easily over oil.
- Thirdly, deep fry patiently. First in high flame and once the sound ceases, in medium or low flame to make it crisp.
- Last but not least, do not over crowd the oil. For an optimum temperature, you should always add the bitter gourd (pavakkai) according to the oil amount. So that it will fry freely and evenly.
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 didn't 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 chips. 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!
Step by step photos
- Wash bitter gourd firstly 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. You can also use a slicer to do this.
2. Mix rice flour, corn flour, turmeric, sambar powder, salt with the sliced bitter gourds.
Sprinkle water and mix evenly. Do not add more.
3. After that, heat oil in kadai and when it is hot, add the karelas in sprinkled way. Furthermore, 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. Finally drain in paper towel.
Serve as accompaniment for rice or enjoy as such as chips! You can store it in airtight container and use for 2-3 days.
Related recipes
Recipe card
Crispy bitter gourd chips
Ingredients
- 5 Bitter gourd karela / pavakkai
- 3 tablespoon Rice flour
- 1 tablespoon corn flour
- 1.5 teaspoon Sambar powder red chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon Water approx.
- Oil - To deep fry
Instructions
- Wash bitter gourd firstly 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. You can also use a slicer to do this.
- Mix rice flour, corn flour, turmeric, sambar powder, salt with the sliced bitter gourds.
- Sprinkle water and mix evenly. Do not add more.
- After that, heat oil in kadai and when it is hot, add the karelas in sprinkled way. Furthermore, 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.
- Finally drain in paper towel.
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.
Anu says
WOW!!! Crispy pavakkai fry. As usual tempting clicks.
Unknown says
Wow.. Looks very nice.. Good that I have karelas.. Will try tomo...
Anonymous says
I needed just the recipe for the bag of bitter gourd sitting in the refrigerator! 🙂
Sobha Shyam says
wow, they look so crispy n yummy, not a big fan of karela..but this sure looks good 🙂
Sreevalli says
They look yummy.. My favorite..
Home Cooked Oriya Food says
looks crisp and yummy...
Kanchan says
Even I prepare this same thing, we call it Kaapi 🙂 Infact when I was a kid I never liked it but slowly now I prefer these 🙂
Swapna Raghu Sanand says
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.
Anonymous says
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 🙂
Sharmilee! :) says
Looks crispy and perfect..I love pavakkai in any form. Beautiful composition and clicks
Srimathi says
As much as I don't like bitter gourd, I like varuval a lot.Nice presentation.
Hamaree Rasoi says
Wish I could make such crispy and amazing looking bitter gourd fries. The pics of your preparation looks stunning.
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
priya ravi says
wow looks very crispy and yumm.. love them very much
Cilantro says
My daughter loves it when I make it this way. I have never used corn flour to it, looks nice and crispy.
Hema says
Very nicely done, you have used only corn and rice flour, no kadala maavu, all the slices are so evenly coated with the batter too..
Aarthi says
this looks yummy ..I love karela, amma makes us pitlai and fries often
Shabitha Karthikeyan says
We simply love karela !! I make it the same and way and my hubby is the one who cuts 🙂
Recipe world says
Wow, they look so crispy..perfectly done!
Rasi says
has come out so well.. The slices are so thin & finely cut.. I love pavakkai & love this 🙂
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Divya Kudua says
Me too posted a bittergourd fry!!Love the addition of sambhar powder-must try!
Vimitha Anand says
My hubby's all time favorite. Looks so crunchy and yummy
Pavithra Elangovan says
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.
Radhika says
I love pavakkai chips but the others at home do not, so I make it very rarely. I make the same way too except I add a little kadala maavu.
Prathibha says
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
Vardhini says
My favorite and I have one in my drafts. I just do not like the old pictures and it is still pending :). Looks crunchy and tempting Raks.
Valarmathi Sanjeev says
Yummy, cripsy bittergourds....looks absolutely delicious.
Kalpana Sareesh says
see now i think i can eat bittergourd so u get the entire credit..looks amazing n def will try it ..
Kavitha Bhargav says
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.
Chitra says
Myself and aunty make like this for ourself and we love it very much 🙂 lovely clicks as always .
Rashida shaikh says
Your pics say it all...Looks amazing.
Shobha Kamath says
Your pics are amazing ! Love these crispy fries.
Kaveri says
They look awesome...My MIL generally adds a little tamarind paste as well..that gives it a nice spicy tangy taste
Amarendra says
This is awesome.. the pics are very inviting.
Ramya says
We r a big fan of bitter gourds and this is a regular at home! its a perfect combo with Curd rice! Yours looks awesome Raks
Akila says
So crispy n lovely
Akila says
So crispy n lovely
Laavanya says
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.
Shama Nagarajan says
wow..yummy crispy fries
S.Menaga says
I love this veggie any form...perfect combo with curd rice,love it!!
jeyashrisuresh says
My favorite veggie and this will taste yum with sambar rice
Suja Manoj says
Crispy,makes me hungry..love this veggie so much.
sangee vijay says
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!!
Preeti Kashyap says
I love this dish...make it often with mor khuzhambu...yumm. I add some pepper as well for extra punch.
notyet100 says
Platter looks delicious,..specially with the bitter gourd fries,,.
Spandana says
Never liked bittergourd much.. but these fries look as if they have no bitter taste. Nice pics!
Tina says
Crispy and yummyyyy...
Athisaya Divya says
Karela fries look very pretty Raks. WIll make any person who hates karela start loving it.
Maayeka says
very crisp and delicious karela fry..
Elpiniki says
These fries look yummy! Great shape!
Ramya says
even i dont like karela, except when fried. this is a very nice recipe
Rinku Naveen says
Love karela and this one looks so tempting Raji! Yumm.. want to try this. May be my kids too will like it this way.Thanks for sharing.
Deeps @ Naughty Curry says
looks crunchy & yum.. i love bitter gourd
faseela says
wow....yummy n crunchy fry....my sons fav.
Premalatha Aravindhan says
Nice way to bring kids to eat bitter gourd...luk crispy and delicious...
radha says
These were very good. Thanks for the recipe. Posting it soon
Anonymous says
Lovely! Perfect and wonderful recipe:) The photo right above the description is drool worthy.
Sushma Mallya says
I simply love bitter gourd fry but as my hubby doesnt like it ...I hardly do it...Looks so yum!
Vanamala Hebbar says
My aunt makes this similar type..will try
vidhas says
Crispy chips. looks yum, great clicks Raji.
saradha says
Baking them in oven at 350 also yields crispy yummy pavakkai chips.
Looks yum :-).
Anonymous says
Extremely Good!!!I tried it and it came out the same way as in the picture. It was excellent!!!
empty says
Many thanks for the recipe, I made this last night and it was nice and crispy.
cheers
savi says
hi i tried this today. it cames out crispy & the taste is too god... tnx a lot...
savi says
i tried today.. it came's out crispy and the taste is too gud..... thanks a lot...
Sangee says
Hai i tried it today and i liked this. It came out well thanks for your recipe.
rama vardhini says
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
RAKS KITCHEN says
Sure sure you can use curd, makes more crispy 🙂
M.dot says
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 🙂
Kaushalya says
Try adding crushed garlic to the mixture and marinate for some time....Just put it in the fridge.....It tastes heavenly.
Renuka Ambbarees says
Don't have corn flour....how to do ?
Raks anand says
Just skip it.
Charu Mathy says
hi raks i have tried this bitter gourd fry and rasgulla it has cum perfect 🙂 🙂 thanks a lot for the lovely dishes 🙂
Beulah says
Does it require to be sundried before frying to remove the moisture ?
Raks anand says
No need to dry.
Beulah says
If I'm baking the Bittergourd what temp and how ing should I keep to get crispy fries?
Raks anand says
I havent tried it. May be 190 deg C ?
Shuba Rajesh says
This is awesome. No bitter taste. Thanks Raks...
Maddy says
I just tried... They came crisy but still bitter in taste :(((
k lb says
Is that oil can be used for other dishes
Raks anand says
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 🙂
Neelmani Verma says
Made this today... It came just awesome crispy taste. We are going to have with dal and chappati. Thanks Raji for publishing this recipe 🙂
Unknown says
Thanks for the recipe. When deep fried in oil does the oil get bitter? Or can I reuse the oil for frying anything else after frying bitter gourd ? Thanks in advance.
Raks Kitchen says
Keep less oil and fry in small batches, so that you can discard the oil after using. That's what I do.