Tangdi (marinated chicken legs) • Amchoorwaley Karela (stuffed bitter gourd)

Peeled bitter gourds

Ripe red seeds

Stuffed bitter gourd

Bitter gourd ingredients aplenty

Karela seed and potato curry

Earlier this week I picked up some bitter gourds on Drummond Street and I’ve been looking forward to experimenting with them. As the name suggests they are incredibly bitter (no s**t, Sherlock), and a bit of an acquired taste, but I’ve been looking forward to cooking them as they remind me of my time teaching near Darjeeling  in 2006, with the charity Mondochallenge (www.mondochallenge.co.uk).  I plumped for the exciting-sounding Amchoorwaley Karela recipe from Food of the Grand Trunk Road, and also their Tangdi (marinated chicken legs) for the meat component.

The preparation for both of these recipes was a bit of a slog – especially skinning all the chicken legs and marinating them for 5 hours, and peeling all the bitter gourds – but it was fun to use my newly acquired dried mango powder, which tasted much more sour than expected. My lack of tandoor also meant a very slow cooking time for the chicken (1.5 hours at gas mark 4, then some time under the grill to crisp up). One of the bitter gourds was much riper than the others and it was incredible to see the contrast between the white unripe seeds and the blood-red ripened-up ones.

The end result was great – less bitter than I remember. The gourds tasted like slightly sharp aubergines, and the potato, karela seed and peanut stuffing was citrusy, sour and nutty all in one mouthful. The chicken legs were lovely and tender, and the marinade was very more-ish and not too hot.

Joyti, who I lived with near Darjeeling, has very kindly sent me her recipe for momos (Nepalese dumplings), and  I’m looking forward to giving them a try next Sunday. Just need to buy a steamer and find a decent chilli sauce recipe first (suggestions welcome!)…

Marks: 8/10