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Gutti kakarakaya is a delicacy that hails from South India. This dish is quite popular in Andhra Pradesh for its lip-smacking flavours. Gutti kakarakaya is a stuffed baby bitter gourd fry, which is infused with various enticing ingredients making it the best way to enjoy the vegetable. Bitter gourd, more commonly known as, ‘karela’ in other parts of India, is a bitter vegetable, which is less appreciated by people because of its strong, bitter taste. Most Indian mothers try every trick in the book to make us like the vegetable, only to be met by disappointment most of the times.
We strongly believe that the recipe of gutti kakarakaya can change the opinion regarding this humble vegetable. Gutti kakarakaya is an amazing dish which is prepared using tender bitter gourds that are filled with crispy onions and tangy gram flour mixture. In Andhra cuisine, the cooking technique ‘gutti’, which means ‘fry’ is quite common. This technique provides a nice mélange of flavour to the dish. You can also make Gutti kakarakaya in bulk and can store it up for a week. This fried dish does not spoil easily, which also makes it a great food, when you are travelling somewhere, and want to savour homemade food. Just remember to use small bitter gourds to fully enjoy the flavours of the dish.
Ingredients:
- 15-18 small bitter gourds
- 1 cup gram flour (besan)
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
- Salt as required
- Water as required
- Oil to fry
Preparations:
1. Wash and chop both the ends of bitter gourd, then slit them from the middle, and using a spoon gently remove all the seeds from within. Make sure not to cut them in half.
2. Add them to a thick bottom pan with water. Boil them over medium flame until they are tender. Turn off the flame, then drain the excess water and let it cool down completely.
3. Meanwhile, in a bowl add gram flour, onion, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix them well.
4. At this stage the mixture would be lumpy, just add a few tablespoons of water to make it into a slightly wet mixture. The batter should be sticky in texture but not too thick in consistency.
5. Take a small amount of batter and fill it tightly into the boiled bitter gourds.
6. In a thick bottom pan add oil for shallow frying. Carefully put the stuffed bitter gourds into the oil and fry them until they are crispy. Remember to turn them in regular intervals so they cook evenly.
That’s it, your delicious gutti kakarakaya is ready.
