Bake and Freeze Bitter Gourds(Karelas)- Gluten free

 I hated bitter gourds as a kid. As I grew , my taste for bitter gourds developed. Now I love them.  I have already posted two recipes on Karelas or bitter gourds. I have a huge reason for paying so much attention to bitter gourds. We hardly get bitter gourds where I live. So I  planted my bitter gourd wine this summer. In no time I started harvesting a lot of bitter gourds. I am not an ardent gardener but the bitter gourd wine is very forgiving. It  does not need a lot of attention. Every third or fourth day, I harvest a lot of bitter gourds. I really need my creative juices to flow to invent new recipes. I also started frying and freezing Karelas.  Karelas taste very good when they are fried golden brown but they also  add a lot of calories to the dish. Yesterday I came up  with the idea of baking and freezing them. The following steps are involved to bake and freeze  guilt free bitter gourds which can later be used in recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Bitter Gourds-4 pounds
2. Salt - 2 Tbsp
3. Cooking Spray

Method:

1. Wash the bitter gourds well under running water. Wipe them with a towel.
2. Cut into very thin roundels and put them in colander.
3. Place the colander on a big plate or tray with edges.
4. Rub bitter gourds with salt  and leave them in the colander for 4 to 5 hours.
5. Salt will remove the bitterness from gourds and the gourds will leave some water that will accumulate on the tray .Discard the water.
6. After 4 to 5 hours , wash all the bitter gourds once again under running water.
7. Pat dry them with kitchen towel.
8. Spray the baking tray with zero calorie cooking spray.
9. Now lay the thin layer of bitter gourds on the tray. Spray the bitter gourds again with cooking spray.
10. Bake it in preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes. Toss the with a wooden spoon and let the bake again for 15 minutes till they become crisp and golden brown.
11. Take out the trays and let them cool.
12.  Make portions according to your family requirements and freeze them in ziploc freezer bags.  

Note:

1.  Preparing and freezing the bitter gourds is a big time saver .
2.  This is the pre preparation for making any Karela recipe.may not be treated as complete dish.