Pavakkai Pitlai
Pavakkai Pitlai is a delicious sambhar from South Indian region made exclusively with Bitter gourd. I have added chick peas for added texture and flavor. This is a a wonderful Vegan stew / kootu made with bitter gourd and is served with rice.
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Cook Time45 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: South Indian, Tamil Nadu
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 136kcal
Instant Pot
Pressure Cooker
Blender
- 2 or 3 Pavakkai cut in circles with the center removed
- ½ cup Chick peas soaked overnight and cooked
- 1 inch Tamarind
- 1 teaspoon Sambhar powder
- ⅓ cup Red gram dal / toor dal
- 1 teaspoon Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Black gram dal / urad dal
- few Curry leaves
- ¼ teaspoon Asafetida
- to taste Salt
- 2 teaspoon Jaggery/brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon Oil I use gingelly / sesame oil
To fry together
- 2 teaspoon Coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoon Bengal gram dal / chana dal
- 1 teaspoon Black gram dal / urad dal
- 5 Red chilies adjust based on spice level
- ¼ cup Grated coconut
- 1 teaspoon Oil
Fry all the ingredients needed for the masala paste in a teaspoon of oil and then grind it into a coarse paste adding just a little water. Keep it aside.
Cook the toor dal / tuvaram paruppu with a pinch of turmeric powder in a pressure cooker or instant pot until soft and mushy and keep it aside.
Dissolve the tamarind in water and extract the juice. Add the sliced bitter gourd / pagarkkai in the tamarind water.
Add the sambhar powder, salt and asafetida and let the mixture boil until the raw smell disappears and the bitter gourd cooks half way through(about 10 minutes).
Then add the cooked chick peas to the boiling mixture and let it continue to boil until the pavakkai cooks completely.
Now add the ground mixture in the pot and mix it well.
Add the cooked lentil / paruppu as well and adjust the consistency adding a little water if needed. Remember this pitlai will be slightly thicker in consistency than the sambhar. Also add the jaggery / brown sugar to the pitlai now.
Let it simmer for about 5 minutes and then season with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.
Expert Tips and FAQ's
- It is very important to remove the center pulp of the bitter gourd. That is where most of the bitterness is and removing it makes it a lot less bitter. Read the section above where I have explained how to clean the bitter gourd.
- Using chick peas is optional but I would highly recommend using it. You can use canned ones for ease or soak some dry chickpeas overnight and then cook it in the instant pot or pressure cooker.
- Using Sambhar powder is optional and you could skip if you don't have it. Make sure to increase the red chilies based on that.
- Serve Pavakkai Pitlai with hot rice and dollop and of ghee for best flavors.
Calories: 136kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 25mg | Potassium: 325mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 576IU | Vitamin C: 93mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 2mg