Bitter gourd health benefits, cultivation, in recipe, in home remedies

Bitter in taste Momordica charantia is a vine which grows in tropical and subtropical areas. It is native to India, nowadays widely grown in Asia, Africa and in other countries. 

Having names bitter melon, bitter squash, bitter apple, karela in Hindi, paagakai in Tamil, kakara kaya in Telugu, karle in marathi, hagalakai in Kannada, this bitter gourd in used as vegetable in cuisine and it has lot of health benefits. It is used in home remedies and in Ayurvedic medicines. 

Bitter gourd plant root, leaves, flowers and fruits are edible and used in dishes and in medicine. Row juice of the leaves or fruit is bitter to taste but sweeter for health. 

There are many varieties of bitter gourd plants in which size, shape and the bitterness of the fruit varies depending on variety. Long fruit variety is grown in China whereas short variety fruits are grown in India and other south Asian countries. 

Bitter gourd plant produces male and female flowers separately. This is to be pollinated by insects. They are bright yellow flowers. Unripened fruit is greenish in colour, ripened fruit is yellow or orange in colour. 

When the matured fruit ripens enough it splits in the plant with seeds showing outside which are covered with dark red fleshy part. 

Bitter gourd is a vine which climbs any support available and the unripened fruits are generally used in cooking. Varieties of dishes are prepared throughout India using bitter gourd. 

In north India curries are prepared with deep frying the fruit to avoid its bitterness. Fruit is stuffed with masala and then fried in oil. Pachadi is prepared for medicinal purpose which is a diet food for diabetes. 

Bitter gourd gojju is famous in south India. Deep fried chips are prepared which is consumed as snack. 

You can take bitter gourd juice as a healthy drink. By adding honey, pepper powder and ginger decreases its bitterness.

Bitter gourd in home remedies

Cures head ache

Bitter gourd leaves paste is applied on forehead cures headache. 

For face pack

Bitter gourd leaf and peel of the fruit, multhni mitti paste is prepared and applied on face, removes dead cells from the skin and avoids acne formation. It also removes black heads and white heads on face.

Stomach problems

Bitter gourd juice taken early morning, cleans the stomach. A good source of dietary fibre improves bowel movement. It has natural laxative property and avoids constipation.

Babies health

Leaf juice one to two drops given to babies cures indigestion and infection. You can add little honey with it.

Heart health

Bitter gourd juice helps in lowering the cholesterol level in your body and contribute towards the health of heart. Iron and potassium present in it helps in maintaining heart health.

Stomach worms

Leaves or fruit juice taken regularly removes stomach worms. You can also get rid of intestinal parasites. 

Diabetes

Bitter gourd, tomato, cucumber with neem leaves juice is best medicine for diabetes. It is taken during day time. You can also have it on an empty stomach. It helps to maintain the blood sugar level.

Menstrual problems

Bitter gourd with pippali and black pepper cures menstrual problems. It cures irregular periods. 

For healthy skin

Leaf or fruit juice taken regularly treats eczema, psoriasis avoids other skin problems. Leaf paste can be applied on skin to avoid skin problems. You can rub leaves on skin which avoids itching.

For lactating mothers

Regular taking of bitter gourd improves milk production in lactating mothers. It treats other infection after delivery. Taking bitter gourd in their diet it benefits babies also.

Benefits liver 

Juice of bitter gourd taken regularly cures cirrhosis, jaundice and other liver problems. 

Weight loss

Bitter gourd is low in calories, fat and carbohydrates and is digested slowly and you do not feel hungry for a long time. It decreases intake of food for long time and aids in weight loss. It avoids fat accumulation. 

Immunity booster

Nutrients rich bitter gourd helps our body immune to viruses and bacteria. Antioxidants present in it avoids cell damage and prevents ageing. It strengthens neural system.

For healthy skin

Antioxidants and vitamin A, C prevents and avoids ageing of cells and wrinkles formation. It prevents sun burn and protects the skin from harmful rays of sun naturally.

For hair fall

Bitter gourd paste applied on hair scalp which avoids dandruff, itching, greying of hair at young age. It avoids hair fall and strengthens hair root.  

Healthy eye

Vitamin A present in bitter gourd improves eye sight and health.

Bitter gourd in recipe

Bitter gourd gojju or hagalakayi kayirasa

Bitter gourd gojju is a type of curry prepared in south India which goes well with rice, chapathi and roti. Although bitter gourd is bitter in taste, frying it in oil makes this gojju tasty. 

Ingredients needed

Bitter gourd 2-3

Red chilli 5-6

Chickpeas 1 tsp

Urad dal 1 tsp

Fenugreek 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp

Cumin 1/4 tsp

Coriander seeds 1/2 tsp

Fresh grated coconut 2 cups

Salt to taste

Jaggery powdered 5-6 tsp

Tamarind paste 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Cooking oil 5-6 tsp

For seasoning 

Curry leaves

Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp

Cumin 1/2 tsp

Hing 1/4 tsp

Preparation 

Bitter gourd is cut into small pieces and marinated with salt and turmeric powder for half an hour.

After half an hour, marinated bitter gourd is squeezed and water content from this removed. It removes most of the bitterness from bitter gourd.

Heat a pan and add 1 tsp of cooking oil and fry chickpeas, urad dal and then add coriander seeds, fenugreek, mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves and fry well till mustard splutters. 

Then grind this fried ingredients with fresh grated coconut and tamarind adding little water.

Then for seasoning, take a pan, add remaining cooking oil, add mustard seeds, cumin, hing and curry leaves to it. 

As it fries, add bitter gourd to it and fry well till it becomes little brownish and then add water and cook it for 2 minutes. 

Then add turmeric powder, jaggery and salt to it and cook well. 

Next add ground masala to it and cook for 2-3 minutes.

For this curry, you can also use copra instead of fresh coconut.

Cultivation 

Bitter gourd seeds are sown to grow plants. These plants need good sun light and fertile soil. It grows well in tropical and subtropical areas. As this plant is a climber, a support should be provided for the plant. 

Manure is provided to the plant at the beginning of the growth and again at the time the flowering. Water should provided at regular weekly intervals depending on weather condition.

It takes to nearly two months to get fruits from the plant. You can harvest the fruits after two months. Harvesting time depends on the variety of bitter gourd grown. 

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About article

The opinions expressed herein are authors personal opinions and do not represent any one's view in anyway, do not use this information to diagnose or treat your problem without consulting your physician. Remedies here mentioned are used for ages may not be clinically proven.

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