Pavakkai Pitlai | Pakarkaai Pitlai (Bitter gourd pitlai)  is a traditional South Indian rice accompaniment prepared with pavakkai, tamarind extract, toor dal, and freshly ground spice paste. The healthy bitter gourd turned into a delicious kuzhambu. I would say pavakkai Pitlai is the cousin of Arachuvitta sambar😂 Pavakkai Pitlai is yet another recipe from my Amma’s cookbook. As a child, I always hated Bitter gourd, though it’s a healthy vegetable. If I see Bitter gourd in the fridge, I go crazy, even without tasting it. I will say a big no. I always want some other dish when bitter gourd is cooked at home. Rasavangi is yet another tasty rice accompaniment One day I was with Amma in the kitchen when she was preparing pavakkai pitlai. I saw her adding a teaspoon of jaggery to the dish. I was so happy seeing jaggery and tasted it that day. After tasting the dish, I liked it and surprisingly didn’t feel the bitterness. From that day onwards I started eating Pitali. Later when I started cooking, I realized even without Jaggery pavakkai Pitalai tastes good. But I started liking the dish because of jaggery, so I add it even now 🙂 Pavakkai Gojju is yet another tasty recipe with pavakkai
If you are interested in some tasty South Indian kuzhambu varieties in TMF, Kuzhambu varieties  with tamarind Kuzhambu varieties without tamarind sambar powder recipe Pavakkai gojju  Other Sambar varieties in TMF
Ingredients:
Bitter gourd - 1 Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Toor Dal - 1/2 cup Chickpea/Channa - 1/3 cup (Soak Channa overnight/ in hot water for 4 hours) sambar powder - 1/2 tbsp Curry Leaves - Few Coriander leaves -few Tamarind - small Lemon size Jaggery - 2 tbsp Asofedtida - generous pinch Salt - as needed For Grinding: Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup, tightly pressed Red Chillies - 2 ( Adjust according to your spice level) Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp Channa dal - 1/2 tbsp To temper: Coconut Oil - 1 tbsp Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Fenugreek - 1/8 tsp
How to make pavakkai pitlai with step by step pictures:
Firstly soak channa dal overnightÂ
Soak toor dal for 1 hour in hot water
Pressure cook chickpea and toor dal in two cooker separators for 3-4 whistles Parallelly pressure cook bitter gourd with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder for 2 whistles
Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract the pulp Dry roast red chillies, coriander seeds, and channa dal till they turn aromatic and golden brown turn off the stoveÂ
Add coconut and mix well. Let everything comes to room temperature ground with little water
Add oil to the pan, when the oil is hot add mustard seed and fenugreek. let it splutter
Squeeze the bitter gourd and save the water aside add the cooked bitter gourd and saute for 3-4 mins or until the bitter gourd turns brown
Add tamarind extract, Sambar powder, hing, a pinch of turmeric powder, and salt and allow the kuzhambu to boil for 15 minutes or till the raw smell goes off the tamarind
Furthermore, add the ground paste and little mixie water and boil for 5 minutes
Add the cooked toor dal and channa, cook for another 5 mins, and mix well in between
Finally add hing, jaggery, and coriander leaves; cook for 5 minutes, and turn off the stove
