Baked Bittergourd Rings – I made this post in my instagram page(Myhealthykiddo) on a Valentine’s Day special – Reposting today in my website as I got many DMs for this recipe, on seeing my kids lunch box pics. As per the school tradition here, every student in the class will gift every other student with candies & cards on Valentine’s day. Though we discard most of the candies, some unavoidable indulgence happens today. To kick out the worms, I made bittergourd rings today & the kids ate more than normal to compensate extra candies On a serious note, We just love these bittergourd rings. Add more sweetness to the words & deeds and add more bitterness to the diet for a happy and healthy life..
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
- Wash and cut bitter gourd into rings. Neither cut too thin nor cut too thick.
- Deseeding is optional. I love to eat with seeds but my kids don't. So, deseed, if you want to.
- Pat dry with tissue paper or paper towel to remove excess water.
- Marinate with salt, chilli powder, little coriander powder, lemon juice & mix well.
- Lastly, add oil & mix.
- 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.
- Preheat grill oven to 380F(thin rings) or 400F(thick rings).
- Once preheated, place the pan/tray with bitter gourd rings(in the middle rack) and bake for 15 mins each side.
- Keep flipping every 15 mins. Time varies as per the thickness of your rings.
- 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.
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.
We love baked version and my kids love shallow-fried version. Both tastes too good and is so addictive. This is the best way to start including bitter gourds in kids diet, I would say. You shall also make my one-pot bitter gourd tamarind curry(link) and I bet you will love it too. My kids eat bitter gourd curry too without any complaints as there will be a good balance of taste in this curry. Do try it out !
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