Bitter gourd Thokku

 

Bitter gourd Thokku - A tangy, spicy accompaniment, having pickle like consistency is called thokku. The tanginess and the spiciness are balanced by the oil added, while making thokku. Thokkus can be veg or non-veg. Thokkus are  prepared by using veggies like onion, tomato, raw mango, amla and greens like curry leaves, coriander leaves etc. They are usually prepared by grating the veggies or by mashing the vegetables and sauteing them in generous amounts of oil along with spice powders. If prepared in the right manner and stored in the appropriate container thokkus may last upto 3 months.

Key Ingredients :

Bitter gourd - Select green, big and unripe ones.  It is easy to remove the seeds  from  the bigger ones. 

Shallots - Shallots imparts good taste though regular onions can also be used. Remove the skin, Chop them into pieces and keep them aside. 50:50 of shallots and bellary onions can also be used.

Tamarind extract - Soak gooseberry sized tamarind in water. Squeeze and extract thick juice. Don't add so much water while squeezing as we don't want a gravy.

Red chilli powder - A good quality red chilli powder goes a long way to give the desired spiciness. I used store - bought.

Salt - Pink salt or normal salt can be used

Mustard and Fenugreek seeds - Roasting decreases the bitterness of the seeds.

Oils and Fats: Cold pressed groundnut oil is used. It is better to use oil meant for frying.

Suggested Servings:

Thokkus pairs up with rice items such as sambar rice, curd rice, coconut rice, kadhi rice etc, tiffin items such as upma, pongal or khichdi, with naans and rotis as well.

Variations:

Omit tamarind, instead add 2 finely chopped country variety tomatoes along with onions. Include a tsp of coriander powder along with red chilli powder. This thokku will stay good in the fridge for 2 days.

Pre-Preparation:

Wash the bitter gourds. Scrape the outer skin of the bitter gourds. Remove the seeds. Chop them into fine pieces. Marinate them in curd to which little turmeric powder and salt has been added. After 15 minutes, bitter gourd would have started oozing out water, squeeze the bitter gourds and keep them aside. This step removes the excess bitterness associated with the vegetable. Chop them finely because they should get cooked while sauteing them in oil. Big ones will take more time.

Shelf life:

It can stay fresh for upto 3 days in the fridge. If you want to keep it longer , add more oil(oil should float on the top), tamarind paste instead of extract, more red chilli powder and salt to balance the spice levels.

Recipe:

Preparation time: 30 minutes

No. of servings - 4

Ingredients :

Oil - 1/3 - 1/2 cup

Bitter gourd - 400g

Shallots - 200g

Spice powders:

Turmeric  powder - 1/2 tsp 

Red chilli  powder - 1 tsp

Tamarind - gooseberry  sized

Salt to taste

To roast and grind:

Mustard  seeds - 1/4 tsp 

Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp 

Directions:

1.Heat a seasoning pan.  Add Mustard and fenugreek  seeds. Roast till  the  mustard starts spluttering and fenugreek  turns little brown in colour. Powder them in a mixer jar or in a mortar-pestle.

2.Heat oil in a kadai. Add onion. Saute well. 

3.Add bitter gourd. Saute well.

 

4.Add tamarind extract, salt, turmeric powder. Cover the pan with the lid, sprinkle water at regular intervals and cook till the vegetables become tender and softer. 

5.Add red chilli powder, powdered mixture and hing. Cook till the vegetables shrink, and come together as one mass.

    

                                                            

6.Sprinkle some water and add oil (1 tbsp if required) and keep on sauteing till they come together as one mass. at this stage oil separates, from the vegetable.(i didn't add much oil, everything was absorbed by the veggies, so not even specks of oil could be seen ).

6.Remove from heat. 

Notes:

• The ratio of bitter gourd : onion used is 2:1.
• Thokkus generally require more oil than stir fries. so add at regular intervals if oil is required.
• Vegetable used should form a single mass that is the consistency of thokku.
• A tsp of jaggery can be added finally(optional).