STUFFED KARELAS WITH THE MINCED MUTTON-KASHMIRI STYLE

     STUFFED KARELAS AND MINCED MUTTON-KASHMIRI STYLE

My mother is from Andhra Pradesh and my father hails from Karnataka.Thus,I was introduced to the cuisines of both the states.I love the food from their home towns.Dad belonged to the traditional Vaishnava Udupi family from Parikaala in Southern Karnataka. Mom was from Nellore District and my maternal grandmother belonged to the Tamilian brahmin family.Yes, ours is a national integrated family.In this manner,I am known and exposed to various cuisines from different cultures.I would be sharing some of the dishes in the blog also.

Muskaan Shah is another factor for me to get introduced to the Kashmiri culture-living styles of Islamic family,their style of eating food-though I did not find much differences,cooking methods,various dishes and interactions with other Kashmiri folks.Therefore,I discovered that there is no one style of Kashmiri food.The differences are due to the presence of the three divisions viz. Jammu,Kashmir and Ladakh. The following table gives the list of the districts under each division-

Serial#	Jammu Division	Kashmir Valley Division	Ladakh Division
1	Kathua	Anantnag	Kargil
2	Samba	Kulgam	Leh
3	Jammu	Pulwama
4	Rajouri	Shopian
5	Reasi	Budgam
6	Udhampur	Srinagar
7	Ramban	Ganderbal
8	Doda	Bandipora
9	Kishtwar	Baramulla
10	Poonch	Kupwara

Every above mentioned district has distinctive flavor and its own style of cooking the food.My research is focused on each of these districts.As the study progresses,I would certainly post the recipe,along with district name,history behind it and a story attached to it.

Here I would be focusing on the stuffed bitter gourd curry in Islamic Kashmiri Style.I would really thank Rajoun's mother for sharing the recipe with me and teaching me different styles for its preparation.Let me first of all share the ingredients-

INGREDIENTS REQUIRED

• Bitter Gourds-1 kg
• Minced Mutton or Keema-1 kg
• Onions-7 to 8
• Tomatoes-1/2 kg
• Coriander powder-3 tablespoons
• Fennel seeds' powder- 3 tablespoons
• Kashmiri Red Chill Powder- 3 tablespoons
• Dry Ginger powder- 1 tablespoon
• Black Cardamom-2 
• Green cardamom-2
• Turmeric powder- 2 tablespoons
• Egg- 3
• Oil for frying-1/2 kg
• Green chillies-3 
• Coriander leaves-4 sprigs
• Water
• Salt-3 to 4 tablespoons
• Cumin seeds

STEPS FOR PREPARATION

• Wash the bitter gourds under running water.
• Make a slit in longitudinal manner in the bitter gourds.
• Scrape out the inner contents of the bitter gourds.
• Keep them aside.
• Apply salt to the bitter gourds(both inside and outside to remove the bitterness from the gourds).
• Keep them aside for 50 to 60 minutes.
• Take an utensil.
• Clean the keema or minced mutton.
• Cut green chillies into very fine thin pieces.
• Chop coriander leaves in a very fine manner.
• Take a wok.
• Pour oil into it.
• Heat the oil.
• Add the cumin seeds and crushed black cardamom.
• Crush and add the green cardamoms also.
• Chop onions into a very fine and thin pieces.
• Add onions to the wok and saute them.
• Chop tomatoes into small pieces.
• Add tomatoes to the onion mixture in the wok.
• Saute them together.
• Add salt and mix them well.
• Add green chillies, red chilli powder, turmeric powder,coriander powder,dry ginger powder and fennel seeds' powder and mix them well.
• Add the minced mutton and mix all of them.
• Wash the bitter gourds so that the applied salt is removed from them.
• Stuff the prepared minced into the bitter gourds.
• Pour the contents of the eggs in a bowl.
• Beat them well and add little bit of salt.Blend them together.
• Take a wok and pour oil into it.
• Coat the bitter gourds with a thin layer of the egg.
• Place it slowly in the oil and deep fry them.Alternatively preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius  Place the stuffed bitter gourds into the oven and roast them for twenty minutes.
• Take them out of the oven and arrange them well in a plate.If one would like to use the micro-wave,them place the stuffed bitter gourds inside it and set the temperature for 15 minutes for roasting them.
• Boil two eggs.Remove the outer layer and cut round slices of the boiled egg.Arrange them around the stuffed bitter gourds.
• Serve them with rice or rotis.

The stuffed bitter gourds are very tasty and appealing to the eyes.The combination of bitter gourds and minced meat is awesome.I heard about this dish for the first time and tried it immediately.My folks really enjoyed it.I came to know later on that this dish is one of the favorite ones for Rajoun. This blog is dedicated to him.