kakarkai Pappu

Ingredients
Bitter gourd – 3 Nos (Medium size)
kandi pappu – ½ cup
Grated Coconut -1/2 cup
Tamarind – small lemon size ball
Red chillies long – 4 Nos
Coriander Seeds – 2 tablespoon
Mina Pappu-1 teaspoon
Senaga Pappu - 3 tablespoon
Black Pepper – 1 teaspoon
Jeera-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon
salt-2 teaspoon
Gingelly Oil – 1 tablespoon
Mustard – ½ teaspoon
Curry leaves - few

Method

Slit the bitter gourds and remove the seeds. Cut it into small pieces.
Sprinkle little salt and mix well. Keep it aside.
Soak tamarind in water and squeeze out the juice by adding 3 cups of water little by little.
Pressure cook the thuvar dhal till soft.
In a kadai put a teaspoon of oil and roast Bengal gram dhal, urad dhal, coriander seeds, pepper, jeera and red chillies seaparately.
Add coconut gratings at the end and fry for a while. Remove and cool.
Mix all the roasted ingredients and fried coconut grating and grind to a fine paste.
Put the tamarind juice in a a vessel and add turmeric powder and salt. Bring to boil. When it starts boiling, take a handful of bitter gourd pieces and squeeze out all the water and add to the boiling tamarind juice.
Add all the pieces like this. Allow to boil.
When the bitter gourd is well cooked, add the ground paste, cooked dhal and mix well. Let it boil for few more minutes.
Season it with mustard and curry leaves.
Note:If you desire, you can add a small piece of jaggery to lessen the bitterness.

Kakarkai Curry ( bitter groud )

Ingredients
kakarkai - Medium sized 2
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Sambar Powder – 2 teaspoon
Curry Powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder – a pinch
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Mustar Seeds – ½ teaspoon
hing Powder – a pinch
Curry Leaves - few
Oil - 3-4 teaspoons
Salt – 1 teaspoon


Method:

1. Wash and cut the kakarkai into medium size pieces. Chop the onion and tomato.
2. Boil two to three glasses of water and when it is boiling put the kakarkai pieces. Allow to cook for five minutes. Do not overcook. Just blanch it.
3. Remove from stove and drain excess water.In a pan put the oil and when it is hot, add mustard.
4. When it pops up add jeera, hing and curry leaves.Then add chopped onion and fry till it turns transparent.
5. Add tomato pieces along with sambar powder, turmeric powder and salt.
6. Fry till the tomatos are mashed well. Add cooked kakarkai pieces and mix well.
Keep it in low flame for five minutes and stir now and then.

Note: You can also add a tablespoon of tamarind juice and a small piece of jaggery to the curry to get a sour and sweet taste.

BITTER GROUD ( KAKARKAI )

The bitter gourd has excellent medicinal values. It contains vitamin A, B1, B2, C and minerals like calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper and potassium. It helps purify blood tissue, enhances digestion, and stimulates the liver.

The bitter gourd is used in the treatment of diabetes to lower blood sugar levels. Its regular use prevents many complications such as hypertension, eye disorder, etc. It increases body's resistance against infection.

Because of its bitter taste, people do not like to cook this. Keeping in mind the health benefits it provides, we should add this vegetable atleast once in a week.

Potato

A potato is a starchy edible tuber native to South America and cultivated all over the world. Potatoes have been domesticated for over 10,000 years, and over one thousand varieties are known, although only a fraction of this number are cultivated commercially.

Vitamins A and C can be found in abundance in the potato, along with some other vitamins and minerals.The tubers are prepared in a number of ways, but are always eaten cooked. Fried potato products such as French fries and potato cakes are popular in many parts of the world, but potatoes are also baked, roasted, boiled, and stewed.

Here are some tips that will help you in reducing the loss of potato nutrients:

1. Avoid peeling the potatoes before cooking them. The outer shell provides a good protection against nutritional loss during the cooking process. The protein and mineral content beneath the skin is very high and if you cook the potatoes after peeling them, most of these proteins and minerals are lost.

2. When you boil potatoes, first heat the water to its boiling point and then add potatoes. This will reduce the cooking time and help you maintain Vitamin C content.

3. Minimize frying as 75% of Vitamin C is lost during frying. You can use other cooking methods such as baking and steaming. On a different note, have you ever tried barbecue roasted potatoes?