Bitter Gourd Gojju

A gojju is a sweet-and-sour vegetable stew-type side dish from Karnataka.

I have not written recipes for a long time as I was in India for a long time to celebrate my daughters wedding. Today, I got some free time to write a recipe for hagalkai/bitter gourd/karela (different people call it different names) gojju.

Cut 4 or 5 bitter gourd, remove the inner seeds. Cut it into pieces that are about 1/4th of an inch. Put the cut vegetable in a container and sprinkle some turmeric powder. Let it sit for about 30 minutes so that the turmeric absorbs the bitterness.
In a pan, take about 2 to 3 table spoon of oil (it can be vegetable, olive, peanut, or canola oil). I use olive oil. Heat the oil moderately.
Wash bitter gourd nicely and take out the water completely by squeezing excess water. Put it the warm oil and fry it. It needs occasional stirring. When the gourd turns light brown take it out in a plate.
In a separate pan take one tea spoon oil and for that add 1/2 spoon fenugreek (Methi) seed. Fry till it turns light brown. Add 2 table spoon urad dhal or black gram ( available in Indian stores), and when the dhal turns light brown add 5 or 6 whole dried chili peppers (according to taste). Fry it for about 5 minutes in medium heat. Then, in a blender, add dessicated coconut about 1 heaped table spoon of this fried mix, add one and half table spoons of sugar and about 1 cup of water. Blend it until its a fine mixture. In a dish take one tea spoon oil and add hing (asafoetida) and mustard let it splutter for that add fried gourd or hagalkai and add salt and about half tea spoon of tamarind paste and 2 cups of water. Let it get cooked for about 5 minutes for that add blended mix and stir well.
Gojju is ready
Bitter gourd has been proven to bring blood sugar down. People who have diabetes drink gourd juice every morning. It also helps insulin production.