Bharwa Karela / Stuffed and stir fried Bitter Gourd

Karela or the Bitter gourd is almost always
hated by people.
But is needed in your diet due to its immense benefits to your health.
So there is no dearth of recipes to make it palatable.

While it can be fried or made into curries in numerous ways, the most popular way is to fill it with a stuffing of your choice.
I love to use the insides of the karela ( use them only if the karela is fresh
and the seeds still very soft ) for this stuffing,
but you can go ahead and experiment.

While vegetarians can use the versatile potato, paneer, chana
or the Posto / khus khus in different ways,
non vegetarians can use Chicken kheema
or the Fish kheema as a filling too.

Need :

Fresh Karelas / Bitter gourd
Chopped onions
Jeera / Cumin seeds
Garam masala powder
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Haldi / Turmeric powder
Red chilli powder
Dhania / Coriander powder
Amchur / Dried mango powder - to taste
Besan / Gram flour
Salt - to taste

How to :

Wash the karelas and cut into half.
Some prefer to scrape off the outer skin ... I do not.

Core the karela.

Apply a little salt to the cored karelas.
Steam them (remember to cover the steamer ... I opened it to take the snap. )

While they steam ( will take around 15 minutes), prepare the stuffing.

To make the stuffing :

Heat oil in a pan.

Add jeera, hing, chopped onions and fry till the onions' edges are slightly brown.

Add the cored karela, haldi, mirchi, dhania powder, a pinch of garam masala and salt.
Fry well.

Now add the amchur.

Then add a little besan and fry well till properly cooked and browned.

Remove and keep aside to cool.

After the karelas are cooked ( check by inserting a knife, it should cut in easily ),
remove them and cool.

With a small spoon or your fingers, fill the steamed karelas with this mixture carefully.

Gently push in the stuffing to reach the ends.

Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry them.


Arrange them with the stuffing side down first. After the side browns, turn them carefully to brown all sides.

If you want you can add a little turmeric, red chilli powder and salt ...
or any other spices of your choice
while frying them.

Serve hot.

Goes great on the side with rotis and dal.

Enjoy !!

Other stuffed vegetables on Kichu Khon

Bharwa Mirchi

Potoler Chop

Other recipes using Karela on Kichu Khon

Dahi Karela
Shukto