Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Baked Bitter Gourd/Pavakka And Okra/Vendakka

     Bitter gourd/pavakka is one of our favourite vegetables.  Back home we used to make theeyal, thoran, mezhukkupuratti, kichadi, vattal and deep fried pavakka chips with bitter gourd. We have already posted the recipe for  kichadi using bitter gourd here. The bitter gourd that we get in the Indian stores here are really bitter that I cannot not use them for making thoran and theeyal unless I added salt, water and squeezed them, but I always felt that by squeezing them I am squeezing out the vitamins too. So I stopped making them. Here I am sharing the recipe for healthy and delicious baked bitter gourd which I make nowadays.

 

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Ingredients

1. Bitter gourd - 8 small

2. Chilly powder  - 2 tsp 
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

4. Salt - To taste

5. Oil - 2 tsp

Method

 

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1. Cut the bitter gourd to round pieces. Try to chop them uniformly. Combine them with chilliy powder, turmeric, oil and salt.

 

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2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the baking tray with foil and arrange the bitter gourd pieces on the baking tray and bake for around 20 - 25 mts or till they turn slightly crisp. Now change it to the broil mode and broil for 2-3 mts or until they get crispy. If the bitter gourd pieces are not uniform, some will turn crispy while others may not. Its better to take it off the oven even if some of them do not turn crispy otherwise the crispy ones will get burnt. It happened to me the first time I baked it :). They tastes great even if they are not crispy. Have it with rice or as a snack. You can also crush and use them for preparing pavakka kichadi.

Baked Okra

Today afternoon I baked Okra/vendakka the same way as I mentioned in the above method and it tasted delicious! So I thought I would share its recipe too in the same post. I used the same masala powders that I used for our Vendakka/Okra Masala fry but  I baked them instead of stir-frying.

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Ingredients

  1. Okra - 20 - 25 small sized (Remove the ends and make a cut in the middle so that you can coat the masala inside)
  2. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
  3. Chilli powder - 1 tsp (Feel free to adjust the spices according to your preferences)
  4. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
  5. Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
  6. Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
  7. Cumin powder - A pinch
  8. Salt - To taste
  9. Oil - 1 tsp

Combine everything together. Bake it at 350 F for 15 - 20 mts and then broil for a few minutes. It wont turn crispy but is really tasty. Also they were not slimy at all. Serve hot with rice/roti. I guess if I had cut them to fine rounds as I did with bitter gourd, they might have turned crispy. I will try that way next time :)

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32 comments:

  1. Excellent Yummies...We too felt the same way..the indian shop ones are way too bitter..Ethu kollam..Enagnyum yummy pavakka undakm alle..adipoli adipoli ennu paranjal pora Kidilam...Pavakka njgaludeyum ellam fav anu...

    Could you tell us which part of Kerala you are from??

    Love
    Kairali sisters

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  2. Kairali Sisters,
    Thanks a lot for your lovely comment. We both belong to Central Travancore, to be exact Maya(Thiruvalla) and Lakshmi(Mavelikkara)

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  3. wonderful idea....baking is a very good option to uase the less oil....will surely try it....

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  4. wow.. great work.. looks crispy & yummy..

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  5. my favorite dish...never tried this healthy idea of baking! surely will give a try.

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  6. I love the fact these are baked :D

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  7. now that is my kind of dish...i often bake pavakka instead of frying too...so i love this recipe, very happy to follow you:)

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  8. Looks yummy, Yummy team!!! Will try this and let you know :D

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  9. This looking YUMMY O YUMMY.
    i make a gravy out of bitter gourd, bitter gourd is my favourite too. i love eating it.

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  10. Wow looks crispy and yummy!!

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  11. Great idea to bake them instead of frying...looks so good and healthy..

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  12. Superb da.. I was thinking of making this after my brinjal venture.. Now I know how it would come out.

    Yes dear I just read 10 things about you and I am surprised that we infact have lot in common.Even I had a secret desire for modelling ;) hee hee,,
    Good to know you here Maya.

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  13. Such a healthy recipe...I love it and it goes to must try list...thanks for sharing dear.

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  14. Slurppp!!both bittergourd chips and bhindi masala looks fabulous and awesome..

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  15. Both the dishes have come out very well. Loved the baked bittergourd chips packed with goodness,tasty bindi too.

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  16. Wooow,,,bittergourd n okra looks perfect dear...nice innovative idea of baking the karela n okra. bittergourd looks crispy dear,,yes as u said may be okra will also be crispy if we cut in small rounds,,sure will these 2 recipes dear,,looks simple and good for the health having baked food...

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  17. Ithu kollalloooooo...Sounds easy and healthy...

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  18. wow...both look brilliant..i have some okra and im gonna try this out...

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  19. Maya and Lakshmi,, i dont know i cldnt post my comment on aviyal dear... its not showing the confirmation msg rather it showing error... anyway aviyal looks perfect n yummy..Congrats on ur awards and thanks for sharing with me dear..

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  20. What an excellent and creative way to make these veggies.I live surely try this as I feel awfully guilty when I fry things as its not so healthy.Baking sounds perfect.

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  21. Baked pavakka and baked vendakka look so crisp and delicious ! The avial below looks fantastic too...

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  22. both the baked veggies look tempting..so healthy and yummm

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  23. Oh my, they both look very tempting. Baking is very interesting !! have bitter gourd in stock, will try them.

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  24. Wow...this is fascinating. I never knew you can bake bitter gourd and okra. I would love to try. They are my favourite vegetables. It's easier for me to get okra here than butter gourd. Thanks for sharing.

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  25. Wow thats so nice recipe with baked vegeies...
    So healthy.

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  26. Oh wow, can't believe its baked looks wonderful, crispy and nice...will try this for sure, thanks for sharing it with us:)

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  27. loved this post, baking is always a better choice less oil rite... nice recipes

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  28. Pavakkai and okra both are my favs. Beautiful clicks.

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  29. Baked venddaikai and pavakai sounds awesome...love this healthy and crispy versions...looks good :)

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  30. I never thought of baking Pavakkai.
    I love Pavakkai kondattam and only because I have to fry it in oil,I stopped eating this.
    Happy to see the healthy version.It looks crispy!

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  31. yummy vendakka and pavakka..really liked the baked pavakka..nice presenatation guys..

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