How to Make Crispy Bitter Gourd Fries (Fritters)
A Delicious Way to Enjoy Bitter Gourd
The bitter gourd is a popular vegetable because of its many health benefits. Though there are many ways to include this vegetable in your diet, I believe that making fries is the best and easiest way to consume it. In this shallow-fried snack, you will not taste any bitterness. And as they are not deep-fried, they are healthier, too.
This dish comes together fairly quickly; it took me fewer than 20 minutes to prepare. I like to serve it as a side dish with tamarind rice.
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 bitter gourd, thinly sliced, seeds removed
- 4 tablespoons rice flour
- 1 teaspoon gram flour/besan
- 2 teaspoons corn flour
- 1 teaspon red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or as per taste
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons oil, I used a non-stick pan for shallow-frying them
- 1 teaspoon sambar powder or rasam powder (optional)
Instructions
- Wash the bitter gourd. Thinly slice it. Don't make the slices too thin; refer to the photo below. Remove the seeds from the center. Set the slices aside.
- Take a mixing bowl. Add rice flour, cornflour, red chili powder, sambar or rasam powder, gram flour, and salt. Mix them. Adding sambar or rasam powder gives a distinct taste to these fries. If you don't have any, use some more red chili powder.
- Add water little by little until the batter is neither thick nor thin. (Refer to the photo to see the proper consistency of the batter.)
- Gently mix the bitter gourd slices with the batter.
- Heat a pan for shallow-frying. I used a non-stick pan. If you use a non-stick pan, you can shallow-fry them in less oil.
- Spread some oil on the pan. Place the batter-coated slices one near the other. Don't overcrowd them (again, refer to the photos).
- Roast the bottom of the slices on medium-low fire. Add a few drops of oil on the surface. Flip each of them and roast the other side. Add a few drops of oil while cooking.
- Shallow-frying a batch may take about 8 to 9 minutes on medium-low fire. Remove the completed fritters and place them on a plate.
- Repeat the same process for shallow-frying all the coated gourd slices.
- Serve as a snack or side dish. Enjoy the taste.
Photo Guide
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Nutritional Information
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 | |
| Calories | 82 |
| Calories from Fat | 18 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 2 g | 3% |
| Saturated fat 0 g | |
| Carbohydrates 12 g | 4% |
| Sugar 0 g | |
| Fiber 1 g | 4% |
| Protein 3 g | 6% |
| Cholesterol 1 mg | |
| Sodium 12 mg | 1% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
Comments
AUTHORThanks Ashish. Your comments are treasured. These bitter gourd fries are shallow-fried on a non-stick pan. This way, you can lower the quantity of oil. For shallow-frying a batch(14 pieces) I used 1 1/2 tsp oil. The fries were not oily. I think you can use so much oil for a fried dish. Try it once.
- AUTHOR
Thanks Cristina. I get nutritional information from the reliable sources on the net. It indicates serving as 1. That means, may be a small cup or 8-10 slices of bitter gourd fries. I shallow-fried them. You can very well make deep-frying or may be baking.
Interesting! I would never have considered making bitter gourd fries (or rings). I bet you can bake them as well and make them even healthier. One question though - how many rings are in one serving?
@Shaila,
Wow, this looks delicious.
I loved this simple and easy recipe.
My only concern is that too oily?
Thank you so much :)
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