Pavakkai Sundal Kuzhambu | Bittergourd Brown Chickpeas Curry | Startup Cooking

PAVAKKAI SUNDAL KUZHAMBU | 

STARTUP COOKING

Bitter gourd is one of the traditional South Indian vegetable. Many people avoid bitter gourd due to its bitterness. But, if cooked properly it is one of the delicious vegetable. 

Bitter gourd is also known as Karela in Hindi and Pavakkai in Tamil. Bitterness is one of the six tastes (sweet, sour, bitter, salt, pungent and astringent). It is essential to add all the six tastes often in our regular menu.  

Combination of brown chickpeas and bittergourd is awesome 👏, and healthy combination too. This pavakkai sundal Kuzhambu goes well with steamed rice with roasted papad. Adding a little amount of jaggery or brown sugar will surely enhance the taste of this kuzhambu. 

The beauty of this recipe is that even kids would love to eat bitter gourd with "dal rice" with a liberal amount of ghee. Follow my  step by step photo and video recipe to prepare Pavakkai sundal Kuzhambu. If you like this recipe, share it, tweet it and pin it. Please do try and post your comments.

RECIPE FOR PAVAKKAI SUNDAL KUZHAMBU

Coarse       : Main, Curry

Cuisine      : South Indian

Author       : Jayashree Karthik

Prep Time  : 15 min

Cook Time : 40 min

Total Time  : 55 min

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup brown chickpeas

• 3 tbsp sesame oil

• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds

• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

• 1/4 tsp hing

• 1 spring curry leaves

• 10 garlic cloves

• 1 medium size onion - finely chopped

• 1 small tomato - chopped

• 1 bitter gourd - chopped

• 1 cup tamarind water

• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

• 3 tsp sambar powder

• salt to taste

• 1 tbsp jaggery

• 1 cup water

PROCEDURE

• soak brown chickpeas in water for overnight

• pressure cook chickpeas in pressure cooker for 5 whistle

• soak tamarind in hot water and extract the juice from it

• cut both the ends of bitter gourd, slice into thin slices, remove the seeds and discard it

• chop the bitter gourd into fine pieces

• heat oil in a pan

• add mustard seeds, allow to crackle

• add fenugreek seeds and hing, saute well

• add springful of curry leaves, allow to turn crisp

• add garlic and finely chopped onion, saute well till it turn translucent

• add chopped tomato, saute well, till it turn mushy

• add chopped bittergourd, mix well and saute for few minutes or  until the bittergourd turns soft

• add cooked brown chickpeas and mix well

• add tamarind water, turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt

• mix well

• add 1 cup water and mix well

• cover with lid and cook in low flame for 15 minutes or until the  oil separates from the curry

• now add jaggery and mix well

• cook in low flame

• kuzhambu turns thick and oil separates from the kuzhambu

• Enjoy with Hot rice and papad.

NOTES

1. pressure cook chickpeas well
2. chop the bittergourd into fine pieces, to avoid bitter taste in kuzhambu
3. sambar powder is the best option rather than chili and coriander powder
4. don't skip adding the jaggery, it really gives a extraordinary taste to this curry.

PAVAKKAI SUNDAL KUZHAMBU WITH STEP-BY-STEP PHOTO RECIPE

soak brown chickpeas in water for overnight

place the bowl in pressure cooker

pressure cook for 5 whistle

strain the water and  keep it aside

heat oil in a pan

add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, hing and curry leaves, saute well

add garlic and finely chopped onion

saute well till it turn translucent

add chopped tomato and bittegourd

mix well

saute and cook well until the raw smell goes

add cooked chickpeas

mix well

add tamarind water

add turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt

add water

mix well

cover with lid and cook in low flame until the curry turns slightly thick

this is the stage 👇🏽

add jaggery

mix well

cook until the oil separates from the curry

Bitter gourd Brown Chick Peas Curry