An acquired taste
Tastes Like Home
By Cynthia Nelson
Stabroek News
March 24, 2007
Hi Everyone, As a child, I had a love-hate relationship with karaila. I loved it because it was delicious sautéed by itself or with lots of shrimp. I hated it because it meant that I'd have to drink bitters. My siblings and I could not stand karaila bitters, which was extracted by squeezing the liquid from the cut-up vegetable that had been marinated in salt.
When we drank the bitters my mother would stand there watching, to ensure each of us swallowed it all. It was like being led to the gallows, mommy being the executioner and the bitters, the noose. Pat, Eon and I would stand there side by side; mommy would pour the bitters, one glass at a time and hand it to us. Being the oldest I always had to go first. I would see the look of trepidation on Pat and Eon's face as I would hold my nose, close my eyes, contort my face and raise the glass to my lips. I have blocked out the memory of the taste so I cannot describe it to you.
A reader of my column, who lives in the USA, wrote asking how to make kalounji (stuffed karaila). Inspired by her request, I thought I'd take a closer look at this vegetable.
A friend of mine, Caroline, whilst on one of her annual trips to Barbados ate some fried karaila I had cooked, among other things. I warned her that it would be a little bitter. She tried it, did not dislike it outright, and said, "Something that bitter must be
good for you." And that is indeed what a lot of us believe, that karaila, because it is bitter contains certain vitamins and properties that are good for you.
Karaila (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
It's a vegetable that has been used for ages as a part of traditional Asian medicine and is said to stimulate digestion. Research is continuing about its use to aid in the control of blood sugar in diabetics. Parts of Latin America believe that it's useful in preventing and treating malaria but that has yet to be proven through human testing. In Guyana, the dried karaila leaves are used as part of an ensemble we call "bush" that's usually boiled and dispensed as traditional medicine.
Karaila (karela), the name we know it as, no doubt because of our East Indian heritage, is also known as bitter melon, bitter squash, bitter gourd, bitter cucumber and caraili. It is grown widely in India, South Asia, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, China, Africa and right here in the Caribbean, it thrives well in the tropics.
I am sure that there are lots of ways to cook karaila but I'm only familiar with two.
The first is sautéed with onions, garlic, herbs and tomatoes. It can be cooked by itself or you can add shrimp, chicken or meat. My mom always cooked it with shrimp. She'd start by removing the top and bottom tips and then running her knife along the vegetable slicing it open, on both sides. She'd take out the seeds and discard them and then thinly slice the karaila into little half-moons. With the sliced karaila in a large bowl, she'd liberally sprinkle it with salt and let it stand for a little while, maybe 15 - 20 minutes or more. This process was used to extract the bitterness from the vegetable. You know when you put salt on cucumbers how they just spring water? Well it's the same thing here.
When she thought enough time had passed, mom would then, in batches, squeeze as much moisture out of the karaila as possible. Some people would add a little water to aid in the process and to take away some of the saltiness but it is not necessary because the saltiness is taken away with the squeezing of the juice. Whatever salt is still trapped in the karaila is enough for taste so you would not need to add more salt to it.
Once this is done, prep your seasonings - onions, tomatoes etc and whatever else you are putting in and cook.
Here's a tip from my aunt Golin: when you're finished squeezing out the water/juice from the karaila, place it on a flat surface, like a baking sheet, platter etc and put it in the sun to dry, extracting whatever moisture is still there. By doing this, you will notice that when you sauté the vegetable, it will not be soggy but dry and you can clearly see each sliver of karaila.
The other way I know Karaila is prepared is stuffed, sautéed and simmered - kalounji (callonjie). My mom has made it this way for us before, stuffed with shrimp but I'd never made it before last week. So, when I was asked how to make it, I knew I'd have to make it myself before giving the recipe. I have a policy of not giving out recipes unless I have tried them and tested them, that way I can competently answer any questions that arise if someone making the dish has problems.
So off I went to the market on Saturday to get my karaila and shrimp. I was so nervous about making this dish. No matter how competent a cook you think you are, when you're going to be making something for the first time, there are always jitters. But, as you can see from the photograph, the dish turned out just fine. If you love karaila, you have to try this dish; the recipe is on my blog.
Cynthia