Bitter Gourd Stir Fry with Coconut Slices (Pavakka Mezhukkupuratti)
Sunday, November 11th, 2007Filed Under Bitter Gourd, Coconut, India - Kerala, Side Dish - Dry, Vegetarian
Thanks everyone for playing the What would you pick… game. It was comforting to know that most everyone would go for comfort food, if they had to stick with eating the same meal for the rest of their life. There were a couple of smart alecs who wanted to take a hot guy along for dessert, I have to let them, after all it is a deserted island…
Talking about my comfort food I realized that I haven’t blogged about one of my favorite dishes of all times! A simple pavakka (bitter gourd) mezhukkupuratti. For the non-Kerallites out there, let me explain what a mezhukkupuratti is. In Kerala, vegetable dry side dishes are prepared basically in two ways - with ground coconut or without. The first preparation is called a Thoran and the second one is called a Mezhukkupuratti (which roughly translates to “brushed with oil”.) Anyway, that doesn’t mean that Mezhukkupuratti does not contain coconut , Kerallites will find a way to add coconut to any preparation. Some types of mezhukkupuratti’s are made with thinly sliced coconut pieces.
In this particular bitter gourd version, coconut slices are a must, since the coconut offsets the bitterness of the vegetable. If you are a bitter gourd lover like me, I guarantee that you will love this dish!
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized bitter gourd (bitter melon)
- 2 green chilies thinly sliced
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 3/4 tsp red chilli powder
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced coconut pieces (available frozen in most Indian grocery stores)
- a few curry leaves
- 1 cup thinly sliced onions
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp oil
Method
Cut the bitter gourd into half length wise. Slice along the width of the pieces as thin as you can get.
Place the bitter gourd , coconut slices, curry leaves and the sliced green chilies in a bowl, add the turmeric and chilli powders and salt and mix well. Keep the mixture aside for about 15 minutes.
In a shallow frying pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and add the onions. Fry till the onions turn brown. Remove the onions from the pan and keep aside.
In the same pan, add 1 tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and let these splutter. Add the marinated bitter gourd mixture and stir well.
Reduce the heat, and cover the pan with a tight fitting lid. Cook for about 5 minutes covered.
Remove the lid, turn up the heat, add the fried onions and mix well. Stir fry on high heat till the mixture is well browned.
The spicy bitter gourd stir fry goes best with rice and a light gravy. I love it the best with rice and plain yogurt.
I actually made a pan full of this today. Siv is out of town, and I am planning to have this and yogurt with rice till he gets back on Tuesday night. I have been kind of sick for a couple of days, still am, so I am in no mood to cook any fancy meals. This is my comfort food, I have no problems eating the same food for three days.
You might also want to check out my other bitter gourd recipes:
Comments
32 Responses to “Bitter Gourd Stir Fry with Coconut Slices (Pavakka Mezhukkupuratti)”
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Bittergourd never looked better! Just like Keralites, Konkanis try to find a way to sneak in coconut in every course of a meal too! Coz of the abundance of those trees in the region, no doubt.
Beautiful pic, Sig!
LOVE IT! Now send me some right away! Seriously Sig, i now have to go and eat something-i got serious hunger pangs seeing this picture! and get well soon, girlie! hugs to you
musical.
karela looks very tempting
i like to try diff versions of karela, this is definitely going on my must try list
would like to try the theeyal as well !
thanks sweetie!
gotta’ look for the coconut slices, never knew @ it, i always got the grated kind, love how i learn about such stuff every single day
get well soon (think one more round of shopping will help???)
Crispy looks of your dry dish makes me crazy my dear. Looks delicious.
You are a bitter gourd lover?? I wouldn’t have guessed that :D.
mezhukkupuratti seems equivalent to Konkani Talasani. But I haven’t heard a version with bitter gourd and coconut pieces before. It looks fabulous.
I don’t like bitter gourd at all but my husband happens to love it. I never make it for him though
‘cos I usually only make stuff that I like a lot 
My hubby is not around for a bit either and I hate having to make s’thing just for myself.
Hope you feel better soon. Take care, Sig.
Sig, suddenly you had my mouth water! i love anything with pavakka….and ur creation, it looks just awesome, even though it is our simple mezhukkupuratti
You have a got go shot there….:)
Shn
sorry for the typo, i meant u have got a good shot there:P
I haven’t cooked bittergourd the spicy way before! this looks really good to convert me.
It was hard for me not to mention how I was gonna have my dessert, but considering you write a food blog here..knew better than to get it an A rating
Hope you feel better soon, Sig. Take care!
Bitter gourd is my favorite veggie. I never add coconut in mezhukupuratti but I will try this one. Kothi varanundu ivide
hmm nammude naattile special. but bittergourd is one veggie i just cannot eat. though i do when amma makes it..
I’m not a huge bitter gourd lover, but i can say I will like this - will be trying it soon!
Thanks for a vegetarian delight
Pavakka=bitter to the core most times i make
…havent had this fry though..usually what amma does is fry sliced onions along with the bittergourd..
shall try with coconut pieces…
Am a big fan of mezhukkupuratti, but I’ve only eaten the plantain one, not the pavakkai version. Love that picture, and I can’t wait to try this out!
Great picture, Sig, won’t cook this on my own, though!
Hi Sig!

Hope u had a great weekend
I had a very quiet weekend after so many weeks and really enjoyed it, sleeping till 10:00 n biking n eating deep fried stuff. I am trying to loose wt but cant stop eating
I love bittergourd fry as whole and sliced but never added coconut to it. Your dish looks delicious!!
are you really sick sick or sick and mopey coz siv is going out of town
… actually when jeeves goes out of town..i enjoy it for a week or even two easy..i do my lil things and totally slack off and have a ball…but by the third week..i start getting bored….coz i am itching to fight and he is a good opponent
the dish looks lovely…but seriously not for me..my mom has tried for 20 yrs for me to like it and has given up ;)…
btw…feel better soon girl…you will i’m sure comfort food does it for you
You do like Bittergourd, don’t you!:D
Arvind likes it, I eat a little and then I can’t handle the bitterness. Looks great. Enjoy!:)
Sig, that is one delicious pavakkai, I harvested about 20 just before the frost and generously gave them away to friends, I want to rewind the generosity
wish I had kept some.
he he… we mangaloreans are not far from u sig. we sneak coconut in almost every dish
he he he… ok ok… i’ll try not to pull ur leg
and sig is cooking vegetarian food and that too bitter gourd… i am impressed
I love pavakkai but my husband can only stand the deep fried version of it so I hardly make it. I hope to try your recipe the next time I want to make it.. it looks good and simple too.
Sig it looks really delicious, but bitter
i hate them
gourd
I think that is one vegetable u love it or you hate them like brussels sprouts.
Sig and make some Non Veg dishes, i love your non veg food
Looks delicious Sig. I love Pavakka, cooked in all forms. It is one of my fav vegie. I’ve never tried it with coconut. This will be a twist
for me. Thx for the recipe.
Its too tough to pass this up, Sig. Will definitely try this.
Sounds yummy, both me and hubby like Pavakkai so will definitely try this version…..I have found a common thread among people who like karela/pavakkai - they were usually the ones whose parents made them clean up the plate as children and there was no question of choice at the table - what was cooked was eaten. AND those parents usually loved to eat karela and didn’t even think of it being bitter etc etc. Thats my hypothesis which I currently have about 8 people to prove
sig, i am drooling! i like bitter gourd a lot… awesome recipe
hey sig…. i dont hate or love bittergourd….but hubby loves it…your pic makes me wanna try it anyway
Very interesting. Need to try this sometime. The other day, there was a new bitter-gourd item at home with the gravy/sauce made of peanut paste. Was actually quite good.
You do love bitter gourd, we do a crisp fry with no masala except turmeric & salt.
This one looks good, maybe I wil try without the coconut
Awesome lady ….Pakka palaghat recipe ….love it …all times ..my mom makes it ..i have never tried it …will try it soon
Hi Sig:
I have found your blog few weeks back and was going through the kerala recipes. I made the bittergourd fry today and it was good. I am a great fan of coconut slices in any curries. Look forward to see more kerala recipes. Thank you.