Recipe
Stir-fried bitter melon (karela sabzi)
- Herb:
- Bitter melon Momordica charantia
- Method:
- Culinary use
- Plant part:
- Fruit
About 30 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Wash the fruits, halve them, scrape out seeds and pulp with a spoon and cut into half-moons.
- Salt, leave for 20 minutes and squeeze out the juice — part of the bitterness goes with it.
- Sizzle cumin in a tablespoon of oil, add sliced onion and fry until golden; add the bitter melon, a pinch of turmeric and ground coriander.
- Fry uncovered for 10–12 minutes until the slices are tender and the edges brown; season with salt, a little sugar and lemon.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 2 středně velké nezralé plody (asi 300 g) na 2 porce
- Solvent:
- sůl na vytažení hořkosti, potom restování na oleji
- Shelf life:
- 2 dny v lednici
- Target compounds:
- solení a vymačkání odvede část hořkých kukurbitacinů; teplo změkčí plod
Notes
An everyday Indian dish. Anyone on diabetes medication should not eat bitter melon as a 'remedy' in large amounts alongside their drugs — the literature describes lowered blood glucose and the Cochrane review does not endorse it as treatment. Tradition advises against it in pregnancy.
Why it works
Salt draws water and part of the bitter cucurbitacins and momordicins out of the tissue, frying rounds off the rest. The insulin-like compounds (charantin, polypeptide-p) come from extract studies; Cochrane found insufficient evidence of a clinical effect.
Literature
- Ooi CP, Yassin Z, Hamid T-A (2012): Momordica charantia for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Cochrane Database Syst Rev CD007845 — Cochrane: nedostatek důkazů pro účinek na glykémii; potravina ano, léčba cukrovky ne.
Related
Bitter melon — Herb card
Culinary use — Processing method detail