India

Karela chips

Name: Karela chips
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 3 medium bitter gourd (bitter melon); 1 tsp for rubbing and seasoning salt; 1/4 tsp turmeric (ground turmeric); 2 tbsp besan (chickpea flour, gram flour); 1 1/2 tbsp rice flour; 1 tsp red chilli powder (indian red chili powder); 1/2 tsp dry mango powder; Cooking oil (vegetable oil), about 750 ml for deep frying, about 3 tbsp absorbed

Bitter gourd, salted, squeezed and fried crisp. Even the karela sceptics go quiet.

50 minTime

2 gProtein each

mediumSpice

Bitter, then crisp2 chapters · 1 min read

Make it your way

Grandma's wayThe original. Handle with reverence.

The original

150kcal

2 gprotein

3 gfibre

50minutes

Per serving, worked out from the ingredient table. Grandma's way is the starting point the other versions are compared with.

Ingredients

Bitter gourd (bitter melon)3 medium

Salt1 tsp, for rubbing and seasoning

Turmeric (ground turmeric)¼ tsp

Besan (chickpea flour, gram flour)2 tbsp

Rice flour1½ tbsp

Red chilli powder (indian red chili powder)1 tsp

Dry mango powder½ tsp

Cooking oil (vegetable oil)about 750 ml for deep frying, about 3 tbsp absorbed

Method

6 steps

1Wash the karela, scrape lightly, and slice into thin rounds, about 2 mm. Push out any hard seeds.
2Rub with most of the salt and the turmeric and rest for 20 minutes.
3Squeeze the rings firmly by the handful and pat dry.
4Toss with besan, rice flour, chilli powder and amchur until coated. Do not add water.
5Heat the oil in a kadai, no more than half full, to 170°C. Fry small batches for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring.
6Drain on paper and sprinkle any remaining salt. Let the oil recover between batches and stay at the stove.

Serve it like this

Serve as a crunchy side with dal chawal, or in a bowl with chai.

Bloom picks tonight's dinner for your diet and allergies, then cooks it with you step by step.

Karela chips

Make it your way

Ingredients

Method

Make it a meal