Bittergourd Fry - My grandma's recipe

Here is one of my grandma's curry which is one of my favorite dishes. Bittergaurd - name itself contains bitter is really very bitter in taste if not cooked properly. So tried my best to step by step process for making the dish. Here goes my recipe......Recipe procedure might look lengthy but I am sure it does not take more than 30 minutes....

Ingredients

2 Bittergaurd (Cut into half if they are too big)
3 Medium onions finely chopped
4 green chilies cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp tamarind pulp
1 cup yogurt
2 tbsp roasted chick peas
1/2 tsp jeera
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp jeera
1/2 tsp urad dal
5 - 6 fresh curry leaves
1 dried red Chile made into 3 - 4 pieces
1 big garlic clove cut into small pieces
turmeric pwd
salt & Chile powder

Procedure

Wash the bitter gourd, peel slightly the outer skin. Cut into two halves in case bitter gourd is long.

Mix the peeled bitter guard with 1 cup yogurt, 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd, tamarind pulp and 1/2 tsp salt and pressure cook them.(My grand mother used to use sour Buttermilk but here it is difficult to get it. So I mix yogurt with 1 cup water). My mother used to say that adding tamarind and salt slows the vegetables from over cooked. Hence I pressure the mixture for nearly 4 - 5 whistles. Once it is done, and you touch the bitter gourd, it must be tender. One advantage of doing this is bitter gourd loses it bitter taste also.

Remove the pressure cooked bitter gourd and cut them into small round pieces about 1/2 an inch long. Residue that was left after pressure cooking can be thrown away. Now heat oil for deep frying. Once oil is hot, deep fry the bitter gourd pieces until pieces turn golden brown color. (This makes the bitter gourd little crispy).

While you are pressure cooking the bitter gourd, Roast the chick pieces and jeera. Allow them to cool and grind them into fine powder. If you are lazy to make this powder you can also use besan.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a big sauting pan, put the tadka (mustard seeds, urad dal, jeera, curry leaves, cut garlic clove, split red chillie) Now add finely chopped onions and green chilies and fry for 10 - 15 min until the onion turns golden brown color. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd, salt and chillie powder as per taste. Once onion is and green chilies are sauted enough, add the deep fried bitter bourd pieces and stir fry for 5 more minutes. This is to allow the onions and bitter gourd pieces to mix evenly. Now add the chick pea powder and stir fry for another 5 min.

Finally garnish it with coriander leaves. Goes well with rice.