Haagalakayi Palya / ChineseBitter Melon in Tamarind Sauce

Haagalakayi is one of the favorite vegetable of my husband and his family. Chinese Bitter Melon is longer, plump and have less ridges on its surface compared to Indian Bitter Gourd. It is less bitter than the Indian variety.

Photobucket

What you need :
Chinese bitter melon : 1 (washed, de-seeded and chopped into thin slices)
Tamarind juice : 2 -3 tbsp (adjust according to your taste)
Jaggery : 1 small gooseberry size
Palyada Pudi : 1/2 tbsp (scroll down for the recipe)
Turmeric : 1 big pinch
Salt
Oil : 1/2 tbsp
mustard, curry leaves

Method :
Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add mustard and let it crackle. Time to add curry leaves and turmeric, mix and add bittermelon pieces. Mix it properly and cover the lid. Lower the flame and let the bitter gourd pieces get cooked on a low flame.
After 2-3 mins, open the lid, mix the contents and add half a cup of water, cover the lid and continue to cook till bitter melon pieces become soft. It takes about 10 mins time (more or less than that).
The water must have almost condensed. Add tamarind juice, salt and jaggery and palyada pudi. Mix and bring it to boil. Adjust the flavors and serve with your favorite main course.

Photobucket

Palyada Pudi :
Kadalebele : 1 cup
Uddinabele : 1/2 cup
RedChillies : 15 (add less if you want a less spice version)
Pepper : 10 (add less if you want a less spice version)
Cinnamon stick : 1" piece
Cloves : 5
Curry leaves : 20 leaves (please note it is 20 leaves not 20 lines of leaves)

Roast all of them separately on a hot tava. Powder them and store it in a airtight container.

Some sweet treats with this post :

Ujju of Cuisine Point has given me a personally designed and created award to me. She has honored me with "Most Generous Blogger" award. I am soo very honored Ujju. Thanks a ton.
Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner has awarded me 360 degree foodie  award, Great Buddy award and Kreativ Blogger award. Thank you soo much girl for showering so many awards. You can find the pictures of all awards here 
Good Job award from Andhra Flavors Thank you dear AF for the award. 
I would like to pass on 360 degree foodie  award, Great Buddy award and Kreativ Blogger award, Good Job award to :

Ramya Vijaykumar of Spicerack 
Roopa Sharon of The Key Bunch
Sunshinemom of Tongue Ticklers
SMN of Cook Spot
Ramya of Ramya Cooks
SriPriya of Srikar's Kitchen

Congratulations all ladies, keep blogging ..............   :) :)

24 comments:

  1. As we get the indian variety i never bought the chinese bittergourd. The curry is good with plain rice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was a speedy comment Cham. Thanks :) And, yes we also never thought of buying chinese bitter melon but Indian variety is too bitter and I had dropped eating this veggie. Chinese variety has right amount of bitterness. It will not embarrass you with its bitterness ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Never seen these! Do they taste like chow chow? They look a lot like chow chows except that they are slim all the way;) Congrats on your well deserved award, and thanks for considering me - cheers to long blogging life:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have seen this in Ntuc market, but never knew what to do with it..maybe I will buy them next time..this curry looks reaaly good..

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have never seen this either , but intresting recipie

    ReplyDelete
  6. @ Sapna, widely seen in East Asian Markets, so probably you might not have not seen this veggie.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ SunShineMOM, it is bittergourd dear, not chow chow. They taste just like bittergourd :D less bitter that is it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. They lok too delicious n healthy. And i liked your orange cake n choc cake recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for the blog award LG:) we are honoured!
    Rekha and Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  10. I bought these once in a chinese supermarket. These won't taste as bitter as our Indian variety! The curry looks so good Lakshmi! Love the addition of tamarind sauce.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hagalkai gojju nan pancha prana ri!! Evaga innu nan oota madilla, nim hagalkai gojju nodi hotte hesiyakke shuru ayitu!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. congrats on your awards lakshmi Haagalakayi palya mmmmmmmmmmm mouthwatering i have seen this vege but never tryed .will try now

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have seen bitter melon in chinese store, but never tried them, ur bittermelon palya looks yummy..thanks for sharing ur awards with me..its mean a lot for me..thanks once again LG...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nice entry.. looks really yummy.. congrats on ur awards & thxs for passing me...

    ReplyDelete
  15. palya chennagide .. i dont get hagalaki here .. missing it :(

    ReplyDelete
  16. thanks so much for that award and hagalakayi gojju tumba chennagi kantide.. elli sikktu chinese bittergourd never came across..

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow the curry looks great dear, it should go well with rice, dosa and everything... Congrats on all your awards and thanks for passing it on to me...

    ReplyDelete
  18. I never tried this veggie..looks gud..Congrats for all your awards

    ReplyDelete
  19. I have never known about these the curry looks really yumm.

    ReplyDelete
  20. never experimented with this bittermelon. does it taste similar to the indian one? looks good though.

    ReplyDelete
  21. yumm looks mouthwatering lakshmi

    ReplyDelete
  22. I don't get indian kind here, very rarely get chinese kind. Love to make gojju, your looks more like thick gojju than palya :) Yum yum...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Congratulations! I need to try out the Chinese bittergourd!

    ReplyDelete

I hope you enjoyed your stay at Taste of Mysore. All your thoughts, ideas, suggestions and feedback about the dishes published in my blog are precious. Please pen them here for me.
ಪುನಃ ಬನ್ನಿ , Welcome back to TasteofMysore