Crisp Bitter Melon and Stir-Fried Bengali Greens

Bitter Melon, or Karella as it’s called in Bengali is a violently bitter vegetable. To temper this and extract those mouth-puckering enzymes a good long salting is required. Once broken down into paper thin crescents, fried up crisply with cumin, chilli and salt and eaten with mouthfuls of steaming rice, it makes a delicious dish, one that’s simultaneously salty, crunchy, bitter and ever so slightly sweet. These alien looking vegetables resemble warty, tubercle-ridden cucumbers and can be found in most Asian shops and markets. This recipe works well as a side with a mild dhal as a slightly sweet foil to the bitter edge, or as the palate-rocking prelude to a more substantial feast.

3 small (approx 4-5 inches long) bitter melons

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ tablespoon mustard oil

½ tsp chilli powder

3 cloves of crushed garlic

1 chilli, thinly sliced

1 thinly sliced onion

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 heaped tsp cumin seeds

-salt the bitter melons about 45 minutes before you want to eat them: cut in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds and then slice as thinly as possible crosswise into crescents.

– place in a bowl, sprinkle on about 2 tablespoons of salt, combine well and leave for 45 minutes

– Rinse the bitter melon thoroughly, drain and squeeze out any excess moisture

– heat the oils in a wok or heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and once they pop, add the garlic

– after about a minute add the chilli, onion and cumin, and stir fry until golden and yielding (about 10 minutes)

– add the bitter melon, turn the heat down a little and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

– Add the sugar and a pinch of salt (if needed) and stir fry for a few more minutes, until very tender, dark and crisp. Serve hot.

There are countless varieties of spinach available in Bangladesh, from ruby “lal” saag to the leafy tops of the jute plant; otherwise known as “Pat saag”. Pui saag or “Malabar spinach” is one of the more common (it’s sold in huge £1 bunches at Whitechapel market). Sometimes stir-fried with a few prawns for added flavour and texture, it has a slightly more “grassy” minerally taste compared to those plastic pillows of leaves so prolific in our supermarkets.

1lb of pui saag, (or substitute with chard/spinach/bok choy/morning glory)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp panch phoran/Bengali five spice (made up of nigella, cumin, black mustard, fenugreek and fennel seeds – or a scant tsp of each)

½ tsp chilli powder

3 cloves of crushed garlic

1 onion, finely sliced

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

–  wash the greens well, drain and coarsely chop

–  heat the oil in a wok over a medium-high, add the five spice and chilli and stir for a few seconds

–   add the garlic and onions and continue to stir fry. Turn the heat down and continue to cook them out for around 10 minutes until very tender.

–  turn the heat up high and add the spinach. Stir fry until the first signs of wilting, about 1-2 minutes (depending on which greens you’re using).

–  add the salt and sugar and continue until tender throughout. Serve hot.