Bitter Gourd Pulav | Pavakkai Sadham

When comes to pulav adding whole garam masala ie mild spices and coconut milk are the main ingredients that cooked with rice. Adding Veggies/ Methi leaves is up to you. I am bit worried about my little one who is not taking veggies properly as he recently started taking solid foods. Usually i make Puli kulambu or Poriyal with this bitter gourd and he just splits when i give (but my daughter loves the poriyal version much). He is a rice liker so i thought of stuffing this bitter gourd in pulav. The very first time i tried adding this veggie to usual pulao and to my surprise it came out super. We all liked it, especially my son and before going to detailed post i conclude this as a great one pot meal for all people who like or hate bitter gourd 🙂

Ingredients

Brown/White Basmati Rice – 2 and 1/2 Cups
Bitter Gourd – 2 Numbers (Medium Size, I used Indian Variety) Fresh/Frozen Green Peas – 1/4 Cup
Onion – 1 Large size
Thick Coconut Milk – 1 Cups
Yogurt/Butter Milk – 1/2 Cup
Shai Jeera or Cumin – 1/2 Tbsp
Coriander Powder –  1 Tbsp
Red chili Powder – 1tsp or More
Chopped Mint and Coriander Leaves – 3/4 th Cup
Whole garam masala (Cloves/Bay Leaves/Cinnamon, Star Anise) – 2 Each
Ghee/Butter + Oil – 3 Tbsp

To grind

Green Chili – 2 Numbers
Mint and Coriander Leaves – 1 fist full
Garlic – 6-8 Cloves (large)
Ginger – equivalent to garlic

Method

• Chop the bitter gourd round shape with seeds.
• Remove the well matured seeds if any.
• Marinate the bitter gourd with yogurt and 1/4tsp salt for 30 minutes (Step wise Pic 1 below).
• Meanwhile soak the rice and start cooking the other ingredients.
• Grind the ingredients given under “To grind” (Pic 3).
• Heat butter+oil and add all whole garam masalas.
• When the bay leaves turn golden brown, add lenghtly sliced onion and saute well.
• Adda 1/2tsp of sugar and salt for onion to caramelize quick.
• Now add the marinated bitter gourd (Pic 2) and saute in medium flame for another 5 minutes.
• You can taste right now and if it has tolerable bitterness then proceed otherwise saute for another couple of minutes.
• If you feel its little more bitter its normal becoz we are going to add coconut milk later.
• Add Red chili, coriander powder and ground paste and saute till the raw smell disappears (Pic 4).
• Add chopped mint and coriander leaves, after a gentle mix add coconut milk (Pic 5) then add soaked rice n check salt.
• Mix well and allow 3 hisses in pressure cooker, i used electric cooker (Pic 6).
• When completely done, open the lid halfway and leave it like that for another 15 minutes after that mix gently.

• Doing this way prevents the rice break/mushy.