Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover – The Bharela Karela

An unconventional bitter gourd and beetroot salad to keep all your friends guessing.

Ingredients for karela:

11 piece medium size karelas (bitter gourd)

1 medium-size beetroot

3 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

3 teaspoons lemon juice

To prepare the karela, you will want to peel and wash all of them. Then, make a lengthwise incision in the middle, and only cut it halfway. Next, set about 3 cups of water to boil. Add the turmeric and a third of the salt. Once the water has come to a boil, add in the karela, and let it sit for 4 minutes. Afterward, take out the karelas and let them sit out. Once it has cooled a little, squeeze the excess water and scoop out all the seeds.

Now to marinate the karela requires some peeled beets, which must be cut into small pieces. Take the beets, lemon juice, sugar, 4 teaspoons of oil, and the rest of the salt and grind them together. Make a paste out of this and marinate the karela. Let this marinate for one hour, then put this in the microwave for about 5 minutes.

Ingredients for the filling:

2 large potatoes, boiled

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons chopped coriander

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1 teaspoon green chili paste

For the filling, peel and mash the potatoes and add the black pepper, coriander, ginger paste, chili paste, and salt to taste. Mix this well and keep it to the side. In a separate bowl, mix all the chopped veggies with the ketchup and chaat masala.

Finally, let’s put this all together. Take a karela in your hand and fill it with the potato mixture. On top of the potato, put the vegetable mixture and press it in with your fingers. Repeat this for the rest of the karelas. Arrange all the karelas on a plate. Sprinkle the leftover vegetable mixture on top of the karelas. Garnish with dome chili flakes and roasted white sesame seeds.