We happened to be on Clement St. earlier this week and stopped at one of the big Chinese markets. I picked up 2 vegetables to try, a bitter melon and a silk gourd which was not a silk gourd, but that is another meal.I spent a few minutes on internet looking for recipe ideas but started getting hungry so I went with a variation of one of the simple dishes. Next time I'm going to try some of the tasty looking dishes on the Hare Krsna website. Come for the chanting - stay for the food.
After trying a few more methods of cooking bitter melon, I believe this is my favorite. The spices work really well with the bitter flavor and the potatoes provide a comforting backdrop to the pungent bite of the squash. The last coking I doubled this recipe (3 medium bitter melons & 4 yukon gold potatoes) and 3 people consumed the entire pan.
Potato and Bitter Melon Hash Browns
This is somewhat reminiscent of the potato and onion hash browns typically served with eggs. In fact this would be really good with eggs.
1 bitter melon (made about 2 cups diced)
fingerling potatoes (also about 2 cups diced)
2 Tbs ghee
turmeric
salt
asafoetida
1 Tbs mustard seeds
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
red chili powder
1.5 square inch of ginger finely diced
sliced jalapeño peppers
Slice and dice the bitter melon into 1/2" cubes Remove the seeds from the bitter melon when you slice it. I toasted the seeds and thought they were good. I've also left the seeds in when they were young and moderately tender. If the squash is more mature and there is a bit of red around he seeds, remove the seeds and the center pulp. Put the bitter melon into a glass bowl and toss with turmeric and salt. Let it sit while you clean and dice the potatoes.
Heat the ghee in a skillet, add the mustard seeds, ginger and curry leaves. They will sputter and pop if the oil is hot enough. Add the bitter melon and potatoes, sprinkle with a pinch of asafoetida, cover and cook on fairly hight heat. While cooking, turn the veggies to brown on their sides, scraping the skillet as you go. The combination of frying on the bottom and steaming should cook the potatoes and bitter melon till they are tender and nicely browned. Sprinkle with red chili powder about 5 minutes before the dish is finished.
We served this with assorted papadum and chutneys and wished we had eggs.
