Pavakaai is one of those dishes that most of us are forced to eat as a kid and even as an adult we try to avoid them as much as possible. But there are those that just love anything made of of it. Well I fell somewhere in the middle, I love the stuffed karela and karela fry or pitlai and on the other hand my hubby used to hate anything made out of Pavakai. So I used to try and remove its bitterness by scraping its skin off slightly or mask by adding masalas. and slowly but surely now my hubby is a proud pavakai lover.
I heard about this dish somewhere and wanted to try it for a while. Here is my version of Pavakaai thokku also called Kakarikaya Pachadi.
Pavakai Thokku
Ingredients:
Pavakaai / Kakarkaya – 2 nos small
Carrot – 5-7 nos small
Tamarind – gooseberry size
Red chili powder – 2 tps
Salt to taste
Asafoetida – a pinch
Method:
1. Slightly scrap the skin off of pahakai and de-seed them.
2. Grind all the above into a smooth paste.
3.In a pan add about 5-6 tbs of oil and a add mustard seeds. When it splutters add the ground paste to the pan and let it cook .
3. When the oil leaves the sides, remove from the heat.
Little bit goes a long way so can be stored in the refrigerator upto 1 week
