Karelas are stuffed with onions, pomegranate/anardana,fennel/sauf and spices for a very authentic and traditional North Indian delicacy. The main flavor in this dish comes from the fennel and a slight tanginess from the Anardana powder.

This is how its made back home in India, except I always chose the easy,quick and low fat Saufiya Karela recipe because it doesn’t require peeling the karelas, making a stuffing or setting aside in salt. I love both types and it would be hard say which one tastes better-both are delicious!

I had seen this recipe in a facebook group by Richa Ralli. This was even before I started blogging and had bookmarked it to make it eventually. Thankful to her for this authentic punjabi recipe. Some of my other traditional punjabi recipes are Pakore Wali kadhi with Greek Yogurt, Mah ki Dal, Gobi Matar and Dhaba Style kali Masoor ki dal.

I did make it in mustard oil, but feel free to use any oil of choice. This recipe is traditionally made in a cast iron kadhai, but will taste yummy made in any pan. If AnardanaPomegranate seed powder is not available, replace with Amchur powder/Dry Mango powder. You could also use a little bit of thick tamarind paste, though I have never tried it.

Moving on to the recipe-

Here is the written recipe followed by the step by step pictorial one-

Stuffed Karela-Bharwan Karela Punjabi Style

Aanchal Gupta

Karelas are stuffed with onions, pomegranate/anardana,fennel/sauf and spices for a very authentic and traditional North Indian delicacy.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Servings karelas

Ingredients

15 karelas/bitter gourd peeled and slit lengthwise
4 medium onions peeled and cut into 4 pieces, leaving the bottom joined

For the filling

2 medium sized onions roughly chopped
5 green chilies
1 tsp Turmeric/haldi
1 tsp Red Chili powder/Lala mirch
1 1/2 tsp Kala namak/Black Salt You can use regular salt as well
2 tsp Fennel seed powdered/Pisa sauf
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp Pomegranate seeds/Anardana powder
6 tbsp oil (I used Mustard oil)

Instructions

Peel the karelas with a vegetable peeler and slit lengthwise, keeping sides intact
Peel and cut onions into 4, keeping them joined at the bottom
Rub salt liberally over the karelas and place in a colander for two hours. Keep a plate/bowl under the colander to catch any drips.

For the filling

Grind onions and green chilies together. Add all the dry spices to the onion mixture
After two hours rinse the karelas well in running water and squeeze the excess water by pressing gently in your hands
Stuff the karelas and onions with the onion and spice mixture
Heat a heavy bottom pan/cast iron pan and put mustard oil in the pan and let it come to smoking point
Lower the heat and place the stuffed karelas and onions in the pan. Cover and cook on medium
Keep shifting and turning both the karelas and onions till cooked and browned from all sides
Serve with dal and rotis or rice

Notes

The reason for applying the salt is to remove the bitterness from the karelas. Smoking the mustard oil, removes the intense flavor of the oil yet gives the karelas a very authentic flavor.Do not remove the seeds from the karelas. I personally like the taste of caramelized onions, so I like to half them and cook them till they brown.Please use small/medium onions for stuffing, I had large ones at home, so that’s what I used. I did not use twine or thread to tie the karelas, but you can if you choose to do so.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Here is the step by step pictorial recipe-

Ingredients