Karaila/Bitter Melon in Coconut Milk Curry

Karaila/bitter melon/bitter gourd is an acquired taste. I believe that you have to have grown up eating it to like it. Or, you could absolutely dislike it because as a child, your parents made you drink the juice as bitters and therefore abhor karaila. Me? I. Love. Karaila. I buy it weekly and cook it in a variety of ways.

This recipe came about because of sheer laziness. I did not want to stuff the karaila as I usually would - with shrimp or ground meat to make a dish in Guyana that we call Kalounjie. When I made this dish for the first time, I was so pleased at finding another way to cook and enjoy karaila. With none of the delicious distraction of a filling, I was able to appreciate the texture of the twice cooked bitter melon. The vegetable becomes meaty and is very satisfying; cooked with coconut milk puts it over the top. If you like bitter melon, definitely give this dish a try.

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Guyana @ 50 - Karaila

Karaila/bitter melon/bitter gourd, you either love it or you hate it. I LOVE this vegetable and buy it often. Whether stuffed, sautéed, steamed or stir-fried, I would eat karaila frequently. I am sure that many of you, like me, when growing up, was faced with the tortuous experience of having to drink the juice of this vegetable to "clean out the insides". Mommy would allow us to arm ourselves with a little sugar in the palm of our hands so that we could eat it to get rid of the bitter taste in our mouth after downing the bitters.

Karaila/Bitter melon ©Cynthia Nelson

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Kalounjie

A regular reader of my column, Zally, who lives in the USA, asked me a few weeks ago how to make stuffed karaila - kalounjie, and that gave brith to the idea for this week's subject. This vegetable is called many things - bitter squash, bitter melon, bitter gourd. In Guyana we call it karaila and in Trinidad and Tobago it is called, caraili.

Read the column to learn about my love-hate relationship, with this vegetable, as a child and how much I love it now. Email me for the recipe.


Karaila, bitter gourd, bitter melon, bitter squash, caraili





Sauteed baby shrimp that I used to stuff the karaila. You can vary the stuffing, some people use minced meat, chicken or vegetables.



Karaila stuffed with shrimp








Stuffed karaila tied with kitchen string to keep in the stuffing during the cooking process. Tooth-picks can also be used.




Saute karaila, turning and browning all around.






This is the finished dish after it has simmered in a flavourful, spicy sauce. Use coconut milk or water, which ever you prefer.
I ate my kalounjie with rice but you can eat it with roti as well,

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