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| Fried bitter melon salad - Balsam-pear |
Bitter melon is also known as balsam-pear and bitter-gourd. This vegetable is found in all parts of the world.
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Bitter melon - long variety
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Bitter melon - short variety
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Different types of bitter melons will have different level of bitterness. The greener the melon it will be bitter. So go for the lightest green available. Very light green melons with reddish seeds will impart less bitterness. Very bitter melons will have white seeds.
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| Bitter melon - short variety |
Nutritional benefits of bitter melon are
1. low in calories
2. source of vitamins B1, B2 and B3, C, magnesium, folate, zinc, phosphorus, and manganese.
3. high dietary fiber
4. rich in iron, beta-carotene, calcium and potassium.
5. an unique phyto-constituent that has hypoglycaemic effect.
6. an insulin-like compound which can be used as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients (polypeptide P) .
7. improves stamina and energy level.
8. detoxifies the blood
9. relieves psoriasis condition and controls fungal infection
10. claimed to prevent cancer cells from multiplying - not scientifically tested.
11. Kills worms in the intestines particularly among children. It is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.
The most widespread use
of bitter melon is in treating diabetes. Drugs.com website suggests
50 to 100 ml. of bitter melon juice taken daily or 900 mg of fruits
consumed 3 times a day. Bitter melon can be purchased from stores in
the form of tea pouches, powder and capsules for the diabetics.
Fried Bitter Melon Salad.
As the name implies these fruits are bitter and are also ugly. If anyone consumes it, it is because of acquired taste. You will have to try a few times before you begin to appreciate the taste of this fruit. Once you acquire the taste for it, you will enjoy a world of goodness from this vegetable. |
Bitter melon sliced
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Recipe summary
For
Fried bitter melon salad - Balsam-pear
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 5
For
Fried bitter melon salad - Balsam-pear
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 5
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| Bitter melon |
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| Ingredients |
Mouth watering Fried bitter melon salad
2. Heat the 1 cup vegetable oil to fry in a wok or a frying pan and add bitter melon slices and fry in low heat for about 20 minutes or until the bitter melon pieces become crispy and crumble under pressure from your fingers. Switch off the heat and drain the bitter melon pieces and discard any remaining oil. Bitter melon pieces will look dark brown or near black. If you are concerned about this loss of nutrition you can stop frying when the bitter melon slices turn brown.
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| Fried bitter melon salad - Balsam-pear |
3. In a bowl mix the fried bitter melon pieces, 150 grams tomato cut into quarter and then sliced thinly chopped, ½ green chilly seeded and chopped finely and ½ tea spoon salt and mix well.
4. Squeeze out 1 tea spoon of lemon juice which will counter any bitterness in the melon.
You can serve this at room temperature or chilled. You can serve it with rice as a side dish or serve as a starter salad. Yo u can even add yogurt.
Fried bitter melon salad - Balsam-pear is ready.
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 5
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Bitter melon slices fried
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Ingredients
Main
200
grams bitter melon sliced horizontally into ¼ thick pieces
Others
150
grams tomato cut into quarter and then sliced thinly
1 cup
vegetable oil to fry
1 tea spoon of lemon juice
½ onion
chopped finely
½ green chilly seeded and chopped finely.
1 ½
tea spoon of salt
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Onion rings, chopped tomato,
chopped green chilli and lime |
Method
1. In a small bowl add the bitter melon slices and sprinkle 1 tea spoon of salt and leave it for about one hour. After one hour squeeze out the water from the bitter melon and rinse off the excess salt. Squeeze out the excess water and dry the pieces in a kitchen towel or paper towel. This process of salting will reduce the bitterness greatly.
1. In a small bowl add the bitter melon slices and sprinkle 1 tea spoon of salt and leave it for about one hour. After one hour squeeze out the water from the bitter melon and rinse off the excess salt. Squeeze out the excess water and dry the pieces in a kitchen towel or paper towel. This process of salting will reduce the bitterness greatly.
Mouth watering Fried bitter
melon salad
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2. Heat the oil in a wok
or a frying pan and add bitter melon slices and fry in low heat for
about 20 minutes or until the bitter melon pieces become crispy and
crumble under pressure from your fingers. Switch off the heat and
drain the bitter melon pieces and discard any remaining oil. Bitter
melon pieces will look dark brown or near black. At this level of
frying the bitterness of the melon will be at its lowest and will
taste delicious. This may be a little over-frying and may result in
some loss of nutrients. If you are concerned about this loss of
nutrition you can stop frying when the bitter melon slices turn
brown. That will also be good enough. We are not introducing yogurt
in this recipe in order to preserve the crispiness of the bitter
melon slices. But you can add some yogurt to enhance the flavour, if
you like the taste of yogurt.
3. In a bowl mix the fried bitter melon pieces, chopped tomatoes, chopped green chili and salt and mix well. Squeeze out 1 tea spoon of lemon juice which will counter any bitterness in the melon.
You can serve this at room temperature or chilled. You can serve it with rice as a side dish or serve as a starter salad.
Note: There is also the question whether to remove the core and seeds from the melon before frying. The simple answer is that you can fry the rings with and without the core and seeds. During the frying process most of the seeds will fall apart and you can discard them. You can munch and eat the seeds that come up in the salad. If you dislike the taste of the seeds in future preparation you can remove the core before frying. I always remove the core and the seeds in all my recipes.
To core the melon cut it into 3 pieces horizontally and use a butter knife to go round the sides to scoop out the core and the seeds.
Nutrition data for this recipe
Nutrition content is computed by adding nutrition values of individual ingredients according to the USDA nutrition database. Water shown here is what is found in the ingredients and not the water added while cooking. This is only an approximation. For further information please read my post “Nutrition information for my recipes.”
Click the button below to view the nutrition data. Click again to close it.
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