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    Home » Recipes » Curries & Stir Fries

    Published: Feb 3, 2024 by usha

    Kakarakaya Kura ~ Bitter Gourd Fry

    Jump to Recipe
    Bowl of karela fry.

    Finely chopped kakarakaya sautéed with onion, tomatoes and some sugar or jaggery is a must try kakarakaya kura aka bitter gourd fry recipe.  

    People have a love hate relationship with bitter gourds and I am the former.  Bitter gourd is karela in Hindi and kakarakaya in Telugu. It is a bitter vegetable. The way the vegetable is cooked cuts down the degree of bitterness and tastes delicious. 

    Kakarakaya recipes I usually make at home are baked bitter gourd chips and kakarakaya pesaru pappu kura, apart from today's kakarakaya curry. 

    Bowl of kakarakaya kura.

    This post was originally published in July 2010. It is republished with new images and content.

    Jump to:
    • About the recipe
    • Remove bitterness in karela
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Serving & Storing 
    • Tips
    • FAQ
    • More Recipes
    • 📖 Recipe

    About the recipe

    Today's bitter gourd fry is my mom’s recipe, which she got from one of my aunts and then modified it to her liking.  Cut bitter gourd into small pieces or coarsely chop in a food processor, marinate the pieces with salt & turmeric, and then squeeze the pieces to extract the juices to cut down the bitterness.  

    Then saute bitter gourd in lots of onion, tomatoes and basic spices. Sourness from tomatoes cuts down the bitterness of the vegetable and addition of a sweetener further reduces the bitterness. Give this kakarakaya curry or karela ki sabji a try. 

    Remove bitterness in karela

    1. To reduce bitterness, cut bitter gourd into desired size, marinate with salt and keep side for at least 15 minutes.  Then squeeze the pieces between your palms to extract the juices. Then rinse the pieces in water or you can use as is. This works for today's recipe and in recipes where karela is chopped or cut into thin slices. 
    2. Pre-cook karela pieces with some salt, turmeric and buttermilk or curd. You can replace buttermilk with tamarind. This tip works best for curries where karela is cut into 1" or longer pieces such as pulusu and masala curries.
    3. Shallow fry or deep fry karela pieces before preparing the curry. Again, this tip works great in recipes where karela is thinly sliced or cut into big chunks like in masala curries and pulusu.
    4. If you do not have time to follow any of the above tips, to reduce bitterness of bitter gourd, fry the pieces a little longer when preparing a stir fry and also cook with lots of tomatoes or tamarind. This tip works great in today's kakarakaya kura recipe.  

    Ingredients

    Ingredients for Kakarakaya kura.
    • Bitter gourd (melon) - use Indian or the Chinese bitter melons. Indian bitter melons are horny unlike the Chinese ones and are darker in color.  I like Indian bitter melons and prefer using these although they are bitter than the Chinese ones.  
    • Try to pick Indian bitter melons that are in a lighter shade of green.  Dark green gourds are usually the bitterest melons. 
    • Onion - use a decent amount of chopped onion to balance the bitterness of kakarkaya.  
    • Tomatoes - are one of the key ingredients in this recipe to cut down the bitterness.  If you want to skip tomatoes , add some tamarind concentrate or freshly extracted tamarind pulp.  Sour and tangy tomatoes and tamarind  reduce the bitterness of the bitter gourd.  
    • Oil - be a little liberal with oil.  Frying or sautéing the vegetable a little longer also reduces the bitterness of the gourd.  If you reduce the oil quantity, cook on low flame for a longer period of time.  
    • Brown sugar / Jaggery - use jaggery or brown sugar to balance the bitterness of the karela.  White sugar also works just fine.   
    • Other ingredients - curry leaves, chilies, crushed garlic, coriander powder, green chilies salt and turmeric.  

    For detailed recipe along with ingredient measures, check the recipe card below.

    Instructions

    For this karela fry, you need to finely chop karela.  I either chop or use a food processor to cut karela into small pieces.  Depending on how ripe the karela is, I either keep or discard the seeds and the white fibrous flesh. 

    When using a food processor, cut karela into 1” cubes and then run it in a food processor for few seconds. Be mindful, just an extra pulse could result in grated karela, which we do not want. You can also cut the karela into small pieces using a knife, which is what I prefer.

    Optional step - to cut down the bitterness of kakarkaya, rub salt & turmeric powder to chopped kakarkaya. Leave it for at least 15-30 minutes and then extract the juices from the mixture.  Squeeze the mixture between your palms to extract as much juice as possible.  Now kakaykaya is ready to cook and keep aside until ready to use.

    Deseeding karela and chopped pieces of karela on a chopping board.

    Step 1: Wash kakarakaya and cut it into small pieces using a knife. Or, take one inch pieces in a food processor, pulse it for 3-4 seconds until the pieces are coarse.

    Bowl of karela pieces that were marinated and squeezed to extract the juices. Bowl of squeezed juice on top left of the frame.

    Step 2: (Optional) Rub salt and turmeric powder to karela pieces and keep aside for at least 15- 30 minutes. Then extract the juice by squeezing karela between your palms. Keep the kakarakaya aside until ready to use.

    Sauteeing onion, garlic, green chilies and curry leaves for bitter gourd stir fry.

    Step 3: Heat oil in a pan, pop cumin seeds, toast green chilies and curry leaves. Then saute onions, followed by garlic. 

    Softened tomatoes in pan for karela fry.

    Step 4: Add coriander powder, chili powder, salt, turmeric and mix well. Then add tomatoes and cook for a minute or two until tomatoes are soft. 

    Cooking karela fry in a pan.

    Step 5: Add kakarakaya pieces, mix well, cover and cook on medium flame for 8-10 minutes until the bitter gourd is tender.  Keep stirring it in between.

    Cooked kakarakaya kura in a nonstick pan.

    Step 6: When the kakarakaya is tender, remove the cover, add jaggery or brown sugar  and cook on low flame for 15 - 20 minutes until it is done.Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice.

    Serving & Storing 

    Serve kakarkaya kura with steamed rice or with roti.  We prefer steamed rice.  Serve it along with any other curry and pappu khut, pappu charu or rasam (chaaru).

    Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 3-5 days.  Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop in a frying pan, before serving. 

    Tips

    • When picking kakarakaya, pick the ones that are in a lighter shade of green.  Dark green kakarakaya tend to be very bitter.  Pick the ones that are a shade or two lighter than dark green.  
    • For this kakarakaya kura, when using a food processor , be careful not to chop the pieces too small.  A finely grated bitter gourd takes a little longer to cook.  So I prefer chopping with a knife but when pressed for time, the food process works just fine. 
    • To reduce bitterness , marinate bitter gourd pieces with salt and keep side for at least 15 minutes.  Then squeeze the pieces between your palms to extract the juices. Then rinse the pieces in water or you can use as is.  
    • Another tip to reduce bitterness is to fry the pieces a little longer and also cook with tomatoes or tamarind.  
    • This tip doesn’t apply to this recipe but you can pre-cook karela with some salt and yogurt or tamarind.  

    FAQ

    How to remove bitterness from karela?

    Cut karela into small pieces and keep it aside for at least 15 minutes. You can even add some salt to the pieces to release juices. After 15 minutes, squeeze karela pieces between your palms and discard the juice. Second, cooking karela with tomatoes, yogurt or tamarind also removes the bitterness.

    Are bitter gourd seeds edible?

    Unripe bitter gourd seeds and the spongy pit are edible. When ripe, the seeds turn red and are a bit hard. You can discard these seeds and I personally like the seeds.

    Plate of rice, kakarakaya kura, kakarakaya chips and rasam. On the side are bowls of cucumber slices, kakarkaya kuda and baked karela chips.

    More Recipes

    If you like kakarkaya, check these recipes below and couple of other recipes where the vegetable cooked by grating or finely chopping the vegetable.

    • Kakarakaya Chips, Karela Chips, Bitter Gourd Chips, Baked Kakarakaya, Baked Karela, BAked Bitter Gourd, Bakeathon, Bakeathon 2015, Indian Food,
      Baked Kakarakaya ~ Bitter Gourd Chips
    • Kakarakaya Pesara Pappu koora, Kakarakaya pesaru pappu koora, bitter ggourd moongg dal curry, karela moonggg dal subzi, karela ki subzi, bitter gourd stir fry, bitter gourd curry, blogging marathon, flavors of India, Telugu Food, South Indian Food,
      Kakarakaya Pesaru Pappu Koora ~ Bitter Gourd Moong Dal Curry
    • Beerakaya Kodi Guddu Koora, Turai Anda Bhurji, Chinese Okra Egg Curry, Blogging Marathon, Bhurji,
      Ridge Gourd Egg Bhurji ~ Beerakaya Kodi Guddu Kura
    • Cabbage Egg Bhurji, Egg Bhurji, Cabbage Bhurji, Indian Food, Bhurji, Scrambled Egg, Indian Scrambled Egg, Blogging Marathon,
      Cabbage Egg Bhurji

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    📖 Recipe

    Bowl of karela fry.

    Kakarakaya Kura

    Kakarakaya kura is an Indian stir fry prepared sauteing bitter gourd along with lots of onion, tomatoes and Indian spices. Goes well with rice.
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: Indian Cuisine, Telugu Cuisine
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 178kcal
    Author: usha

    Equipment

    • 1 Knife & Cutting Board
    • 1 10" nonstick frying pan
    • 1 Spatula

    Ingredients

    • 3 tablespoon Oil
    • 4 Green Chilies cut lengthwise
    • 1 medium sized Onion chopped ¾ cup
    • 1 ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
    • 1 tablespoon crushed Garlic
    • 2 teaspoon Chili Powder adjust to taste
    • 1 teaspoon Salt to taste
    • ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
    • 1 large Tomato chopped I used vine tomato little over 1 cup
    • 3 cups finely chopped Bitter Melon 2 medium sized, around 360 grams
    • 3 tablespoon Brown Sugar or jaggery
    • Cilantro to garnish
    • 2 teaspoon Roasted Peanut and/or Sesame Seeds Powder (optional)

    Instructions

    • Wash bitter melon and cut into small pieces. If the bitter melon is ripe, remove the seeds and white fibrous part, and then finely chop. You can also use a food processor. Cut bitter gourd into 1” pieces and process for 20 seconds until the pieces are more like a coarse grate.
    • Optional - You can skip this step if pressed for time. Rub salt and turmeric powder to karela pieces and keep aside for at least 15- 30 minutes. Then extract the juice by squeezing karela between your palms. Keep the karela aside until ready to use.
    • Heat oil in a pan, pop cumin seeds, toast green chilies and curry leaves.
    • Then saute onions until soft, followed by crushed garlic.
    • Add the spices; coriander powder, chili powder, salt and turmeric. Mix well.
    • Then add tomatoes and cook for a minute or two until tomatoes are soft.
    • Now add bitter melon, mix well, cover and cook on medium flame for 8-10 minutes until the bitter gourd is tender. Keep stirring it in between.
    • When the gourd is tender, remove the cover, add jaggery or brown sugar and cook on low flame for 15 - 20 minutes until it is done.
    • If the stir fry is bitter to your taste, add some roasted sesame and/or peanut powder few minutes before turning off the flame.
    • Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice.

    Notes

    • Picking bitter melons - pick gourds that are in a lighter shade of green.  Dark green bitter melons tend to be very bitter.  Pick the ones that are a shade or two lighter than dark green.  
    • Food processor - when using a food processor to chop/coarsely grate karela, be mindful not to chop the pieces too small.  A finely grated bitter gourd takes a little longer to cook and the kura tends to have a mushy texture.  So I prefer chopping with a knife but when pressed for time, the food process works just fine. 
    • To reduce bitterness - marinate karela pieces with salt and keep side for at least 15 minutes.  Then squeeze the pieces between your palms to extract the juices. Then rinse the pieces in water or you can use as is.  
    • Another tip to reduce bitterness is to fry the pieces a little longer and also cook with tomatoes or tamarind.  
    • If you still find the kura bitter to your taste, add some roasted sesame and/or peanut powder few minutes before turning off the flame.
    • Nutrition - values mentioned below are approximate values.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 50grams | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 814mg | Potassium: 379mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 674IU | Vitamin C: 71mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Share a photo! Mention @usha_myspicykitchen or tag #Usha_MySpicyKitchen!

    This post was originally published in July 2010. It is republished with new images and content.

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    Reader Interactions

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      5 from 3 votes

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    1. Radha says

      March 27, 2024 at 9:56 pm

      5 stars
      I have never used yogurt in bittergourd curry. This recipe sounds very flavorful and I am trying this version soon.

      Reply
      • Usha Rao says

        April 26, 2024 at 7:15 am

        We usually curd to cut down on the bitterness. I don't use it in this curry but when using bit pieces of karela, we first pre-cook karela pieces with some salt, turmeric and yogurt and then make the curry.

        Reply
    2. Srivalli says

      February 14, 2024 at 7:56 pm

      5 stars
      I love this recipe Usha, it came out so good...My husband loves karela and he enjoyed this so much...your pictures surely tempts one to dish this out right away!

      Reply
    3. Pavani says

      February 03, 2024 at 12:16 pm

      5 stars
      This was one of the best kakarakaya recipes I've ever made. Loved the use of tomatoes in here. Thank you for the tips to remove bitterness from kakarakaya.

      Reply
    4. Apu says

      July 06, 2010 at 9:21 pm

      The bhaji looks great!! Would be wonderful with rotis.

      Reply
    5. Rice Palette says

      July 06, 2010 at 6:03 pm

      My Spicy Kitchen: This looks great! I like how the "Source" is "Mom" 🙂 good post!

      Reply
    6. Deepa says

      July 06, 2010 at 2:23 pm

      I like bittergourd..want to try it some day..

      Reply

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    Bowl of karela fry.

    Hi, I am Usha! Welcome to my space. I am the content creator and photographer here. I love cooking and all the recipes on the site are tried and tested in my kitchen.

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