No one likes the taste of bitter, it’s discomforting for sure. How much we may dislike bitter but this taste has been there deep in out food culture. Be it Bitter gourd, fenugreek leaves, moringa, neem, amaranth or so they all fall under the bitter category. Even ayurveda has highlighted the importance of bitter. Adding bitter to food has been important to build the flavour profile of a dish , but treatment of the bitter in the dish makes all the difference.
Here are five prominent bitter dishes that we see while we talk about Indian food
Stuffed Karela –
This North Indian specialty that’s mostly a side dish, Stuffed karela or bharva karele makes a great side dish to any meal. Karelas is known to have many health benefits and most important in for treatment of diabetes. The skin is scraped and kept aside and later the scrapes is mixed with masala stuffed inside. The stuffing masala is a spicy one that sees besan, peanut, aamchur as main ingredients. The spicy stuffing helps to balance the bitterness of the karela.
Shukto
This quintessential Bengali dish that sees a Portuguese origin, is mainly a stew that sees a medley of vegetables, like potatoes, sweet potatoes, flat beans, brinjal and bitter gourd been the most important one. A dish that was consumed as a cooling agent in the ancient kingdoms of undivided Bengal like Anga, Vanga and Kalinga, till date makes in presence in most Bengali homes.
Neem Begun
This traditional Bengali bitter dish mostly made during summer. To simply the dish this one is nothing but young new neem leaves that fried in a crispy way with some cubed brinjals. This very ancient dish is a starter of Bengali meals and also like Ayurveda says meal should always start with bitter. Neem leaves are extremely bitter and eating them also has its own health benefits. Eating of clean eating is also a part if clean eating practice.
Moringa flower fritters
Sohjne phuler bora / moringa flowers fritters simply mean drumsticks flower fritters. These bitter soft flowers have been a part of our food habits for ages be it eating it as a curry in sambhar or simply as a side or even the leaves were fried to eat. Moringa flower which is seasonal is also edible. Though it’s a little tough to clean and wash these delicate flowers are super healthy and beneficial. And the best part Moringa leaves can be consumed as soup and even as tea. Eating it seasonally is no just beneficial to health but also helps to make the planet a place.
