Stuffed karela subji

Karela a.k.a bitter gourd, is one of my favorite vegetables - in any form:) Stuffed karela, sliced rings with onions and a bit of besan (gram flour) & gud (jaggery), hagalkai gojju, deep fried karela and onions - bring it on. Stuffed karela is made in so many ways it's mind boggling.

This particular karela subji is my grandmother's speciality. We make it with karela (bittergourd) and aloo (potatoes). So much so, that now karela wala aloo is one of my daughter's favorite eats. Both my kids enjoy only the aloo bit, sigh.

Here's how I make it, when I do, that is.  I have to wait patiently to lay my hands on them, maybe once in 2 months or so, every time we visit the Indian store. And if I spot them, I can't help but jumping in joy, like them that much :D

Stuffed karela subji

Ok, so here goes. Picture first.

Preparation a few hours before:
1. Wash the karelas well, and scrape off the rough skin off them, kind of smoothening them. Don't throw these away, as they are added to the stuffing or while cooking.
2. Chop the karelas into 1.5 to 2 inch pieces, slit them lengthwise and scrape out the white pulp and seeds inside. If the seeds are not ripe, keep them to add crunch to the vegetable.
3. Now rub salt to the inside and outside and keep aside. This will extract some of the bitter juice from them.
4. I keep mine overnight in the fridge in the summers.
5. Choose small sized potatoes so they cook well, or if big cut them into small 1 inch pieces, making a slit for the filling.

Preparation for making the vegetable:
a) The stuffing: 
Ingredients needed - 1 grated big-sized onion (with the water squeezed out), masalas - chilli powder, coriander powder, roasted and roughly powdered saunf (fennel)1 spoon, some amount of jaggery (gud), amchur powder, garam masala (may skip too), a pinch of soda, salt to taste. (No proportions for the masala powders, final masala should taste spicy and tangy and a bit sweet).
Process - Just mix this up well, you may add the scraped skin at this stage, or later to the vegetables being cooked.

b) Before making the stuffing, put a saucepan full of water to boils, adding the potatoes first, till they are mildly cooked but still firm, followed by the karela pieces and remove from heat. The time judgement comes from experimenting, but the karelas should not become soft and mushy.

c) Now fill the stuffing to the aloo and karela pieces, if some of it is left over, all the more better - can be added later. You can also tie a thread around the karelas so they don't open up when they are cooking.

d) Now just put some oil in a karahi/cooking pot. Once it's hot, add the stuffed karela pieces and aloos and cook on a low to medium heat for a good time. The karela pieces should be well cooked all over, the skin changes from green to almost black, but try not to burn the masala. The remaining stuffing and the skin can be added when the vegetable is half-cooked, else it tends to get burned. One more thing, this vegetable tends to use more oil, so be warned:)