Bitter Gourd Sambol Recipe (Karavila Sambola)

Bitter Gourd Sambol, mostly known as Karavila Sambola in Sri Lanka is very easy and very quick recipe. Most of you may not like to eat bitter gourd due to its bitterness. But, you will never say no to bitter gourd if it is prepared like this. This typical Sri Lankan bitter gourd sambol is great to eat with any meal as a side.

Ingredients

• Bitter gourd - 250g
• Onion - 01
• Green Chilies - 2-3
• Tomato - 1-2
• Lime to taste
• Salt to taste
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Oil for deep frying
• Maldive fish - 2-3 tsp (Optional)

Method

• Wash bitter gourd and clean out the seeds.
• Slice bitter gourd fairly thinly and keep aside.
• Chop onions, red chilies and tomatoes.
• Deep fry bitter gourd until it becomes golden brown and crisp. Stir constantly till you get this out from fire.
• Then, mix onion, green chilies and tomatoes in a bowl.
• Add salt and pepper as per your taste.
• Add fried bitter gourd to this mixture and mix thoroughly.
• Add few lime drops to increase the taste.
• Mix and serve immediately. Always keep in mind to add fried bitter gourd at the time of serving. If you mix them too early, the crispiness will go away.
• If you like you can add few salad leaves to decorate.

Tips

• You can prepare the deep fried bitter gourd a day in advance and assemble the salad whenever you are ready to serve.
• The bitter gourd will shrink a lot on frying so adjust quantity accordingly if cooking for a large group.