Thursday, June 29, 2006

Kakarakaya Pitla/ Bitter Gourd and Lentil Medley

Dear Foodies,


Ingredients:Roast in a little Oil:

  • 2 Tbsp - Chana Dal
  • 1 Tbsp - Toor Dal
  • 2 Tbsp - Dhania seeds
  • 1 tsp - Menthulu (Fenugreek)
  • 8 nos - Red chillies
  • 4 Tbsp - Coconut (grated)
  • 1 pinch - Asafoetida
  • Few Curry leaves
Other Ingredients:
  • 150 gms - Kakaraya/Bitter Gourd Boiled
  • 2 cups - Toor dal boiled
  • key lime sized ball of tamarind
  • Salt to taste
For seasoning:
  • 1 tsp - Mustard seeds
  • 1-2 nos - Green Chillies
  • 1 tsp - Coconut (grated)
  • 3-4 nos - Curry leaves

Procedure:
  1. Roast the ingredients listed above and let them cool. Grind it to paste by adding sufficient water.
  2. Soak the tamarind in water and extract the pulp. Cut small pieces of the bitter gourd and and it to the tamarind extract along with some salt. Boil the above for around 3 mins.
  3. Add this paste to the boiling tamarind water and continue to boil for 5 mins.
  4. Mash the boiled dal and add 1 cup of water. Add this to the boiling tamarind water and continue boiling for 5 mins or till the dal blends well with the spices.
  5. The pitla is now ready, season it with mustard, green chillies and grated coconut (optional) and curry leaves. Serve hot with rice :-)
*

11 thoughts:

Anonymous said...

Aunty.....so mom..so daughter..!!!...all the credit goes to u....!!! seriously aunty..no competition for u..!! u reign.!!

Anonymous said...

Excellent recipe, Aunty. Thank you so much for participating in JFI-Dal event. Appreciate it very much.
I have bookmarked this recipe to try.

Krithika said...

Excellent recipe aunty. This is exactly how we make Pitlai.

Anonymous said...

love this pitla, i've been waiting for an authentic recipe.thanks aunty

Anonymous said...

Manjari,Sailaja,Krithika and Arsu,
Thank you for your comments, I enjoyed sharing this recipe with you all.

Pritya said...

Dear Priya,

Any new ideas to cook the most detested vegetable at home is always welcome. Can't wait to try out this on my family. Hopefully they will not mind the bitterness of the kakarakaya in this format!

Priya said...


Pritya, this is an excellent way to enjoy bitter gourd. The bitterness plays really well with the complex flavor of the spices. Initially I would cook the bitter gourd in mild tamarind water and discard the water to get rid of some of the bitterness, not anymore though :) Its too delicious :D

Unknown said...

Hi Priya, I am a relatively new cook and so still fumbling through the basics. I was just wondering how much tamarind to use in this recipe, would you say the size of a gooseberry? Thanks

Priya said...


Safa, that's about right! sorry I left it out in the ingredients list, I'll update it now. Thanks!

Laura said...

Hi Priya,
I would like to make this recipe but I don't understand this part "Grind it to paste by adding sufficient paste.".
What paste do you add to make a paste? :? Did you mean to add water to make a paste?
It looks really delicious. I'd really like to make it myself.
Thank you for the answer in advance

Priya said...


Laura, Sorry I'm late to respond! It was meant to be 'water' to help make a paste in the blender. I hope you were still able to try the recipe.

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