Bharava karela is a spicy stuffed bitter gourd that tastes absolutely amazing when served with ghee smeared chapatis. This is a perfect side dish to pair with any curry or maincourse.
Wash and peel the outer green covering of bitter gourd (keep it aside don’t discard).
Gently slit from the center and take out inner skin and seeds(keep it aside, discard only ripe and hard seeds).
Now sprinkle some salt over the empty bitter gourds, outer green covering, and inner skin and seeds.
Keep aside for 2-4 hours. After 2 to 4 hours wash all these vegetables under running water.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan, add fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds sauté, and add onions. Fry for 2 minutes and add the green skin, inner skin, and soft seeds in it.
Add all spices and salt, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Remove this filling front heat and set aside.
Now fill this stuffing in all bitter gourd and tie with thread from all sides
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add these stuffed bitter gourd, sauté for 10 minutes.
Flip and cook from another side.
Remove from heat and serve hot with chapati or naan.
Notes
Make sure to scrape the skin and remove the inside of the bitter gourd properly.
Sprinkling salt and leaving it for some hours ensures to reduce the bitter taste, do not omit this part.
For the filling, instead of amchoor powder, you can also add fresh raw chopped mangoes.
Karela stays fresh for 2 weeks in the refrigerator, make sure to warm it before serving again.
You can also stuff the karela with potato filling.