Pavakka Kondattam / Sun Dried Bitter Gourd fries

The first time we went to US, my MIL had packed some sun dried bitter gourd to take along. I knew just a hand full of dishes to make, back then, so it was of such a relief to fry it when I ran short of ideas for sides to go with rice. We used to love it.

Both me and Jacob are not a fan of this veggie. But if its fried or stir fried with lots of coconut in it, then we love it. When we moved to Phoenix, the hot sunny days helped us get these dried up faster in the sun, to enjoy it as a side for rice. Yes, that's right. This post had been ready when we were in Phoenix but never got to post it :). Lazy me. But today when I took the fresh batch of Kondattam that my MIL made and packed for us to take along to Pune, I thought about this post. So here you go.

If you live in a place with ample amount of sunlight like we did, this is such a great thing to try. Well otherwise, if you have an oven then you need not bother about the sunlight to make this.

Ingredients

1. 4-5 bitter gourd, sliced into disc shape
2. 4-5 green chilly, slit into half
3. Salt to taste
4. Water to boil the sliced bitter gourd
5. Oil for frying 

Method

• In a pan, take all the ingredients 1-4. Bring it to a boil. Simmer the heat to medium and let it cook until the bitter gourd turns tender.
• Once cooked , drain off the water and spread the cooked bitter gourd on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper/ kitchen towel. 
• Sun dry it for 3-4 days till it completely dries up. 
• Once it cools down, store it in an air tight container.
• In a pan , heat up the oil. Once hot, turn down the heat to medium high. Add the dried bitter gourd and let it puff up. Remove it onto a plate lined with paper towel to drain off excess oil. Serve it with rice or have it as a snack.

Tips

1. Cut the bitter gourd slightly thick. They would shrink once dried.
2. The bitter gourd shrinks a lot once they get dried up. So try making it with more number of bitter gourd if you would want to stock it for future use.
3. Make sure to sun dry the bitter gourd completely and also cool it before storing for later use. Else they would get fungus.
4. You could store the fried bitter gourd in an airtight container for a week or so. Make sure that they cool down completely before you store it else they would turn soggy and loose crispness.