Bitter Gourd Fry | Hagalakayi palya | Karela Fry | Kakarakaya fry recipe

Bitter gourd fry or hagalakayi palya is nutritious and tasty side dish from South Indian – Karnataka. This vegetarian and vegan Indian recipe is a perfect side dish for rice, chapati or any Indian flat bread. This is a recipe from malnad regions or western ghats of Karnataka and we call this as hagalakayi pudi palya.

Here is a detailed recipe with step by step photo guidance.

As the saying goes Bitter the better!! If you are one who doesn’t like including bitter gourd in your diet, then try this recipe, I am sure you will like it.

I learnt this recipe from my mother. The frying step in the recipe makes it less bitter compared to other bitter gourd recipes.

More recipes from Karnataka that can be served as side dishes along with rice

Nimbe gojju / lemon coconut curry / lemon juice gojju – Its healthy aromatic coconut-based curry

Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi – Vegan tasty and flavorful Udupi style coconut-based curry

About this recipe

Bitter gourd fry or hagalkayi palya is a dry side dish where finely chopped bitter gourd is cooked with ground coconut dry masala, spices and tempered with coconut oil, asafoetida.

This is a recipe from malnad regions of Karnataka that is prepared using home grown hagalkayi.

Bitter gourd is rich source of vitamins and minerals. Mainly bitter gourd or bitter melon are rich source of vitamin A, C and folate.

They have a sharp flavor and a distinct feature; Indian varieties are narrow with pointed ends and outer skin with pointed spikes on the rind. They are usually dark green to light green in colour. As they mature, the seeds become hard, red and big in size. These are removed before cooking for good digestion of bitter gourd. If diabetic, consult your doctor before you include this vegetable.

Indian bitter gourds are used to make sambhar, kayirasa, palya, curry in Indian cuisine.

Why will you like this bitter gourd recipe?

Its plant-based side dish

Plant based diet food for diabetes.

A vegetarian side dishes.

It is a nutritious and healthy meal.

A diabetic friendly dish

It makes a great side dish for chapati, roti.

Perfect side dish in any Indian meal

Equipment

Frying pan

Mixer grinder

Ingredients notes

Here is my first bitter gourd recipe on blog, so here is how to cut bitter gourd and cook them properly.

To make this stir fry best, use all the below mentioned ingredients.

Bitter gourd: It should be unripe firm ones, avoid using ripe bitter gourd with red seeds as they are toxic in nature.

Coconut oil – For authentic taste coconut oil is used. However if you don’t find, any oil can be used.

Mustard seeds – Seasoning of bitter gourd is done using mustard seeds in coconut oil. They give a nice earthy aroma.

Salt and jaggery – We add more jaggery to this recipe and palya tastes sweetish and spicy. Jaggery also masks bitterness of bitter gourd to some extent.

Asafoetida – This adds earthy flavor to bitter gourd. To make the recipe glutenfree, simply skip asafoetida.

For masala

This is a dry coconut-based masala and all ingredients used in masala are dry.

The lentils and spices used are chana dal, urad dal, coriander seeds and cumin. These are basic lentils used in making playa masala. Do not try to replace these ingredients as they make the base of this recipe.

Red chilies – I have used byadagi red chilies. We can also use Guntur or Kashmiri red chilies.

Dry coconut or kobbari – This is used to give masala the required texture. If you cannot find kobbari, then use desiccated coconut or fresh coconut, however, fry them until they become slightly crisp.

Curry leaves – Fried curry leaves add a nice aroma to palya. We can add in masala or to the seasoning of bitter gourd.

How to chop bitter gourd?

There are different ways in which bitter gourd can be chopped. Based on the dish we plan to make, bitter gourd can be chopped as per requirement.

Every person has their own ways of chopping bitter gourd. I follow the below mentioned way chopping and using bitter gourd.

For palya or stir fry we can chop them very fine using a vegetable chopper or blender.

We can chop them into cubes for curry, sambar, kayirasa. Bitter gourd slices can be used to make chips, shallow fried chips and fryums using these slices.

If the bitter gourd is tender, we can use the seeds as well. They turn crisp crunchy when fried in oil.

However, if you are not sure, seeds can be removed and only the outer gourd be used.

Cut open the bitter gourd vertically, remove the seeds from center and chop the gourd into fine pieces. I have used an electric vegetable chopper.

How to remove bitterness from bitter gourd?

This stir fry recipe is prepared by not removing the bitterness, instead it’s dry fryed in oil without adding any water.

However different households follow various methods to remove bitterness, as most people do not like the bitter taste of this vegetable.

We can also add salt water or simple salt on chopped bitter gourd, keep aside.

Keep this aside for an hour and squeeze bitter gourd little at a time to remove the bitterness. Discard the liquid and use the bitter gourd in your dishes. I feel this method removes the nutrition of bitter gourd.

Turmeric can be sprinkled along with salt on the chopped bitter gourd.

Removing bitterness completely is not possible. So, these methods help in maximum removal of bitterness.

Keep the prepared bitter gourd aside until we make the masala.

How to make Bitter Gourd Fry or Hagalakayi palya?

The first step towards making this recipe is preparation of dry coconut masala, then frying the chopped bitter gourd and cooking with masala.

Preparation of dry coconut masala

Dry coconut masala for palya is prepared by roasting basic Indian spices along with coconut. Gather all the spices mentioned in the ingredients list. We add equal proportion of chana dal and urad dal slightly less coriander seeds and cumin.

Heat oil in a small frying pan. Roast chana dal until lightly golden.

Add urad dal to this fry well. Roast everything under low heat, until you get a nice aroma.

Coriander seeds and cumin are also added while roasting.

Next red chilies and curry leaves are added and fried well until you get nice aroma.

Add grated dry coconut to this and slightly roast until it becomes warm with light changes in colour.

We must roast all spices and coconut on low heat to avoid burning spices. Roast slowly till you get proper colour and aroma of spices. This is an important step to get a perfectly aromatic masala blend.

Cool the masala ingredients and grind them into fine powder without adding any water. This should be completely dry. Keep this aside until we fry bitter gourd.

Frying bitter gourd

This is an important step in the recipe. As my kids do not eat this dish if it’s bitter to taste. I have found a way to still feed them with this.

I follow the below method of removing bitterness,

Coconut oil is heated in a frying pan. Mustard seeds are added and fried until they splutter. Next add finely chopped bitter gourd, it is fried in oil for 8 to 10 minutes on medium heat. They turn dark green to light green and get cooked in the process. This way we can remove bitterness and cook well until soft.

However, if you do not want to remove the bitterness, just fry the finely chopped bittergourd in oil for less time, just until it becomes soft.

After frying bitter gourd, we add ground masala, salt and jaggery powder. Fry well until it becomes dry.

Add asafoetida or hing and fry again to make the palya completely dry.

Serving suggestions

Bitter gourd stir fry is best served with hot rice either sona masuri or boiled rice. It can be served as chutney powder along with dosa and idli.

This stir fry tastes the best with coconut oil. If you do not like coconut oil, can add ghee for flavour.

Storage suggestions

Bitter gourd stir fry can be stored in airtight containers. It can be stored in room temperature for 1 to 2 days if its completely fry and moisture free. However if there is some moisture, then you cannot store at room temperature.

If you still have some leftover, then store in airtight container in your refrigerator. Bitter gourd stir fry can be refrigerated or frozen for a week.

If refrigerated, bring the stir fry back to room temperature and reheat by simply stirring it once. Serve them fresh and enjoy.

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Recipe Card

Recipe Variations

We can make few recipe variations and substitutions

Turmeric powder – We can add turmeric powder while frying bitter gourd and this slightly changes the colour of stir fry.

Tamarind paste – If the bitter gourd is chopped slightly bigger than mentioned in this recipe, it takes more time to remove the bitterness by frying. At this point we can add a spoon of tamarind paste and fry. This helps to remove bitterness from bitter gourd.  

Fresh coconut – We can add fresh coconut instead of dry coconut or kobbari. However, slightly fry for longer time to remove moisture from fresh coconut completely.

Quantity of jaggery – This recipe can be made on sweeter version. Add more jaggery powder and cook well until it thickens up.

Addition of garlic – we can replace asafoetida with very finely chopped garlic. Add them directly into oil while seasoning, fry well until it becomes crisp.

Lentils in seasoning – We can add urad dal and chana dal for seasoning along with mustard seeds.

Tips to make perfect bitter gourd fry

1. We must roast all spices and coconut on low heat to avoid burning spices. Roast slowly till you get proper colour and aroma of spices. This is an important step to get a perfectly aromatic masala blend.
2. We can adjust jaggery and red chilies as per taste preference.
3. Depending on spiciness of red chilies, we can reduce or increase the number.

Frequently asked questions

Can anyone eat bitter gourd?

Bitter gourd is not recommended for people with low sugar levels. Few research have shown that bitter gourd is not suitable for pregnant ladies.

Can we use sugar or any other sweetener?

Yes we can add any sweetener of choice.

Can we remove jaggery from the recipe?

We can completely avoid adding jaggery. It balances the bitterness in the recipe however with jaggery also they taste equally good.

Can we use bitter gourd seeds in stir fry?

If the seeds are young immature they can be used in the stir fry. I have never used them.

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