Baked Karela Fry | Oven Baked Bitter Gourd Fry
Baked Karela Fry which is crispy, spicy and a dash of sweetness. Goes well with rice and dal.
Servings: 6 People
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 7 medium Bitter Gourd (Karela / Kakarkaya)
- 1 small onion, cut to circles
- 1 small bell pepper cut to circles ( I used few mini orange bell peppers)
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ¾ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp jaggery powder
- 2 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
- lemon juice to taste
Instructions
Washing & Slicing the Karela -
- Wash the karela and cut them to thin round circles
- If you prefer, roughly peel the skin (it will cut down the bitterness) and then cut them to circles.
- I generally do not peel or remove the seeds.
Marinating the Karela with spices -
- Add all the sliced karela in a large bowl and add oil, jaggery, turmeric, coriander, cumin and red chili powder and salt.
- Mix it well and set aside for 20 – 25 minutes. You will see that the karela starts to get soft and absorb all the spices.
Baking the Karela -
- Preheat the oven to 400 F or 205 C and spray the baking sheet with oil. You could also line with a parchment paper.
- Arrange the karela pieces in a single row and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes.
- While the karela is baking, slice some onion and bell pepper rings. I used mini orange bell pepper which worked great in this recipe.
- After 15 minutes you will see that the karela has brown color on the top.
- Now add the onion and bell pepper and mix it. Place the baking sheet back in the oven for another 7 minutes. Do keep an eye after 5 minutes, you do not want to burn the karela.
- Remove and let rest in the pan for few minutes. Finally add some chopped coriander and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Notes
Keep the Karela slices to about ⅛ inch thickness.
Do not skip the onion and bell pepper. It compliments the Bitter Gourd very well.
Store the left overs in the fridge for up to 3 days.