Bitter gourd curry, a delicacy from Palakkad

Chennai

WE were shooting for a serial to be aired on Jaya TV and one of the lead roles was being enacted by a charming lady called Nithya Ravindran. Her talent and hard work had gotten her an entry into Tamil television when her family needed support and ever since her entry in 2000, she has not looked back. Hailing from a middle-class family in Chennai, her values and ethics conveyed her upbringing. Initially, she started acting as a junior artist to support the family and soon started enjoying the creative work. She made many friends, who always loved working with her, as she used to carry food for the entire crew on sets.

Though Nithya has acted in many serials, the one which made her immensely popular among the audiences is the blockbuster Tamil serial titled Azhagi. Even after winning so many awards be it for her acting on TV or plays, she stayed grounded. She likes to personally attend the kitchen where she prepares a great variety of dishes for her two children, in-laws, husband, parents and friends. Her knowledge of Tamil brahmin heritage food is extensive. Nithya’s earliest memories are of her grandma — getting up early, having a bath and not allowing anyone to touch her, till she finished cooking food, which was first offered to the gods and crow and then served to the family. Initially, the cooking was on a woodfire and cow dung was used to clean the floor after eating and the place of cooking. Nithya’s favourites are the typical small onion arachuvitta sambar, lime rasam and curd rice, with vatha kuzhambu.

Nithya’s friends used to wait for her to open the lunch carrier, which contained vegetables like brinjal fry, seppankizhangu roast, potato fry, vendakkai fry, rasam, sambar and curd rice with tender mango pickle. She recollects how her paati used to mix the rice and sambar and serve it to them. Nithya’s children love her cooking and whenever she gets time, she spends it in the kitchen making snacks like murukku, mixture, groundnut ladoos, etc. If she was not an actress she would have started a restaurant.

The history of pavakkai pitlai dates to a century back, when a Tamil brahmin woman from Thanjavur married a namboodiri from Palakkad and went and settled there. She made use of all the local ingredients and created pavakkai pitlai (bitter gourd curry) as most people shunned it — she wanted everyone to get a taste of the nutritious vegetable cooked deliciously. It is also one of Nithya’s favourites and today, she has shared the recipe with us.

Pavakkai pitlai is one of the unique kuzhambu varieties that is full of flavour and taste. Though it looks similar to sambar, there are a few variations and the taste is different.

PREP TIME: 20 mins
COOK TIME: 25 mins
SERVES: 4 pax
CALORIES PER SERVE:
218 per serve

INGREDIENTS
Bitter gourd: 2 large ones
Toor dal (pigeon pea): 1 cup
Tamarind paste/pulp: ½ cup
Turmeric: 1 tsp
Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp
Red chillies: 8
Grated coconut: 1 cup
Urad dal: 1 tbsp
Chana dal: 1 tbsp
Peppercorns: 1 tsp
Coconut oil: 3 tbsps
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Asafetida: ¼ tsp
Jaggery: ½ tsp

METHOD

* Take toor dal in a vessel. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and water. Pressure cook for about 4 whistles.

* Mash the cooked dal and set it aside.

* Pour half the oil in the pan and fry the red chillies, coriander seeds, urad dal, chana dal and pepper till
the dals turn a golden brown colour. Keep aside.

* In the pan, add grated coconut, some curry leaves, asafoetida and fry till it turns a golden colour. Cool it.

* Now grind all the roasted items with a little water to a smooth paste

* Heat the remaining oil (leaving ¼ tsp only) in the pan. Add mustard seeds once the oil is hot.

* When the mustard seeds begin to sputter, add curry leaves and fry for 2 seconds

* Add sliced bitter gourd to the pan. Stir fry the bitter gourd in medium flame to avoid the bitter taste.

* Add 1/2 cup of water and tamarind extract and cook till done

* Add a tsp of jaggery

* Add mashed dal and the ground masala

* Let it simmer on low heat for five minutes

* Pour the remaining coconut oil on top

* Serve the pavakkai pitlai with hot steaming ponni rice