Baked Bitter Gourd/Pavakka And Okra/Vendakka

     Bitter gourd/pavakka is one of our favourite vegetables.  Back home we used to make theeyal, thoran, mezhukkupuratti, kichadi, vattal and deep fried pavakka chips with bitter gourd. We have already posted the recipe for  kichadi using bitter gourd here. The bitter gourd that we get in the Indian stores here are really bitter that I cannot not use them for making thoran and theeyal unless I added salt, water and squeezed them, but I always felt that by squeezing them I am squeezing out the vitamins too. So I stopped making them. Here I am sharing the recipe for healthy and delicious baked bitter gourd which I make nowadays.

Ingredients

1. Bitter gourd – 8 small

2. Chilly powder  – 2 tsp 
3. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

4. Salt – To taste

5. Oil – 2 tsp

Method

1. Cut the bitter gourd to round pieces. Try to chop them uniformly. Combine them with chilliy powder, turmeric, oil and salt.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the baking tray with foil and arrange the bitter gourd pieces on the baking tray and bake for around 20 – 25 mts or till they turn slightly crisp. Now change it to the broil mode and broil for 2-3 mts or until they get crispy. If the bitter gourd pieces are not uniform, some will turn crispy while others may not. Its better to take it off the oven even if some of them do not turn crispy otherwise the crispy ones will get burnt. It happened to me the first time I baked it :). They tastes great even if they are not crispy. Have it with rice or as a snack. You can also crush and use them for preparing pavakka kichadi.

Baked Okra

Today afternoon I baked Okra/vendakka the same way as I mentioned in the above method and it tasted delicious! So I thought I would share its recipe too in the same post. I used the same masala powders that I used for our Vendakka/Okra Masala fry but  I baked them instead of stir-frying.

Ingredients

1. Okra – 20 – 25 small sized (Remove the ends and make a cut in the middle so that you can coat the masala inside)
2. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
3. Chilli powder – 1 tsp (Feel free to adjust the spices according to your preferences)
4. Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
5. Coriander powder – 1.5 tsp
6. Garam masala – 1/2 tsp
7. Cumin powder – A pinch
8. Salt – To taste
9. Oil – 1 tsp

Combine everything together. Bake it at 350 F for 15 – 20 mts and then broil for a few minutes. It wont turn crispy but is really tasty. Also they were not slimy at all. Serve hot with rice/roti. I guess if I had cut them to fine rounds as I did with bitter gourd, they might have turned crispy. I will try that way next time 🙂