Lent is over, but that doesn’t mean that mostly vegetable dishes are out of the window.

 Most people view eating vegetables as some sort of chore to get over with or a task to accomplish unless you want to be sick or unhealthy, or before you can reap the medicinal benefits. For the lowly, unassuming bitter gourd, arguably one of the most infamous vegetables due to its bitter taste, it’s not just a chore or a task to accomplish. It is a challenge to overcome. Which doesn’t have to be like that.

Cooking tasty bitter gourd dishes that everyone can enjoy and not just those who oddly favor bitter food is an easy task if you know what you’re doing.  It’s not enough that you know the ingredients, you also need to know the exact and proper procedure for the recipe. To help you, we’ve collated five bitter gourd recipes that you must try this summer vacation.

1. Crispy Bitter Gourd

 If you’ve caught the vegan bug or you know someone who has, then this bitter gourd dish is perfect for you. This is vegan and gluten-free. As a bonus, it can be prepared in just 20 minutes. First things first, though. You need to properly blanch the bitter gourd to reduce the bitterness. Or not, if that’s what you prefer. Alternately, you can also add sweetening agents (cinnamon sugar, honey, sweeteners) or certain spices (masalas) to dilute the bitter taste and add another layer of flavor to it.

Here are the ingredients that you will need for this dish:

• 2 medium-sized sliced bitter gourds
• 3 tbsps. of oil
• 1 sliced onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 sliced tomato
• ½ freshly-scraped coconut 9about 70 grams or 2.5 oz)
• 1 tsp. of Garam Masala
• ½ tsp. of turmeric powder
• ½ tsp. of cumin powder
• ¼ tsp. of chili powder
• 1 tsp. of coriander powder
• 1 ½ tbsp. of sweetening agent
• a pinch of salt
• chopped coriander leaves

Check out the complete procedure here

2. Sweet and Sour Bitter Gourd and Coconut Stir-Fry

As one of the most infamous vegetables out there because of its bitter taste, it’s a bit hard to imagine bitter gourd tasting any different from, well, its name. This dish, however, manages to neutralize the bitter taste enough so that other flavors such as sweetness and sourness can be tasted as well. To reduce the bitterness, you can blanch the bitter gourd. Depending on your dietary restrictions, you can either shallow-fry or deep-fry the bitter gourds.

The ingredients for this dish are below:

• ½ kilo of thin-round sliced bitter gourds
• ½ cup of coconut (dried and sweetened)
• 1 tbsp. of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 garlic cloves
• ½ tsp. of salt
• 1 tbsp. of canola oil
• ½ tsp. of paprika (adjust to your taste)
• ½ tsp. of turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. of yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. of split gram lentil (optional)

Check out the complete procedure here

3. Bitter Gourd Curry

 

Naturally, with the bitter gourd being popular with Indians, it’s only a matter of time before it gets its own curry dish. For this dish, you can choose to blanch your bitter gourds or not, depending on your taste. Do you want the undiminished bitterness of arguably the bitterest vegetable in the planet? Well, if you do, good for you! For those who are not that fond of bitter stuff, go ahead. Blanch them before sautéing.

You can find the ingredients for Bitter Gourd Curry below:

• 2 cups of freshly-chopped and blanched (or not) bitter gourd
• 1 ½ cups of thick curd/yogurt
• ½ cup of freshly-grated coconut (optional)
• 2 green chilis
• 1/8 tsp. of mustard seeds
• 2 pinches of asafetida (optional
• ½ tsp. of salt (adjust to taste)
• 8 curry leaves for tempering
• 1 tsp. of oil/ghee for tempering
• ½ tsp. of mustard seeds for tempering
• ¼ tsp. of black gram split, for tempering
• 2 tsps. Of oil/ghee/butter

Check out the complete procedure here

4. Sautéed Bitter Gourd with Egg

Bitter gourd or ampalaya in Filipino, is not just famous in India. It is also widely recognized in Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, for its medicinal benefits and, of course, the uncompromising bitter taste. The bitter gourd is not just good for diabetes, it also contains a lot of vitamins and nutrients such as Vitamins B1, B2, B3, and C, and magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, and manganese. Also, it’s a rich source of dietary fiber. This dish is simple, it only needs a couple of ingredients and takes very little time in preparing.

See the ingredients for this dish below:

• 3 medium-sized bitter gourds
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 sliced onion
• 3 diced tomatoes
• 4 beaten eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• patis (Filipino fish sauce – optional)

Check out the complete procedure here 

5. Bitter Gourd con Lechon Kawali

 

A Filipino dish, Lechon Kawali is deep-fried pork belly seasoned with herbs beforehand. Not only is it tasty, it is also chockful of fat and cholesterol. Yes. Your eyes are not deceiving you, this is part of the list. Not necessarily healthy, the pork belly will somehow be neutralized by the bitter gourd if you won’t pad the ratio between the two in the pork belly’s favor. Alternately, you can also refrain from deep-frying the pork belly to avoid dousing it in fat-heavy oil.

Here are the ingredients for this bitter gourd dish:

• 2 tbsps. of cooking oil
• 1 thinly-sliced onion or 2 shallots
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• ¼ tsp. of grated ginger
• 1 tbsp. of salted black beans
• 2-3 cups of thinly-sliced bitter gourd
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pinch of sugar
• ½ cup of bone broth
• 2 cups of lechon kawali
• sriracha (optional)

Check out the complete procedure here

Not Just for the Bitter Taste

Eating bitter gourd dishes doesn’t need to be a challenge or a chore, it can be a tasty experience if you have the right ingredients and technique. If you’re a diabetic or prediabetic, you can use these recipes together with your supplements for blood sugar to help manage your diabetes or even assist in reversing prediabetes. The trademark bitter taste doesn’t have to be this all-encompassing flavor that blocks out other elements of a dish for you to enjoy the benefits of this nutrient-filled superfood.