Bittergourd rings
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 30
Ingredients
Base ingredients:
  • Bitter gourds - 4
  • Coriander powder - ½ tsp
  • Chilli powder - 1 tsp or more
  • Salt - ½ tsp or as required
To bake:
  • Lemon juice - 1 tsp
  • Olive oil - 2 to 4 tsp
To pan-fry:
  • Tamarind extract - 1 tsp extracted from big gooseberry-sized tamarind
  • Groundnut oil - 4 tbsp to shallow fry
Instructions
  1. Wash and cut bitter gourd into rings. Neither cut too thin nor cut too thick.
  2. Deseeding is optional. I love to eat with seeds but my kids don't. So, deseed, if you want to.
  3. Pat dry with tissue paper or paper towel to remove excess water.
  4. Marinate with salt, chilli powder, little coriander powder, lemon juice & mix well.
  5. Lastly, add oil & mix.
  6. Arrange the rings in a cast iron pan or a baking tray sprayed with oil or you shall line the tray with aluminium foil and then place the rings.
  7. Preheat grill oven to 380F(thin rings) or 400F(thick rings).
  8. Once preheated, place the pan/tray with bitter gourd rings(in the middle rack) and bake for 15 mins each side.
  9. Keep flipping every 15 mins. Time varies as per the thickness of your rings.
  10. You shall also shallow fry in oil in a pan to elevate the taste for kids. For pan fried version, I add tamarind extract in place of lemon juice.
Notes
1.If you are using cast iron pan to grill, place empty pan in the grill while it is preheating. Then remove the pan with baking glove, spray oil and place the rings carefully on it.
2.If you are counting on calories, you shall bake these rings without adding any oil. In such case, use baking tray lined with aluminium foil to avoid sticking.
3.When introducing first to kids, try shallow-fried version and then slowly move to baked version.
Recipe by My Healthy Kiddo at https://www.myhealthykiddo.com/bittergourd-rings/