Microwave Bitter Gourd Crisps

I am not a fan of bitter gourd from any angle for the obvious reason. I just used to manage eating kakarakaya podi that my mother prepared because of the delicious and crisp besan coating it had. And my husband who seems to be an opposite, loves the vegetable to the core and keeps buying it for himself. Right now, I have a dozen gourds sitting in my refrigerator as I am writing this. However these bitter gourd crisps have managed to change my opinion about the vegetable and have turned me into a fan to some extent. I enjoy these immensely (not needing any push at all from my husband to try) since the bitterness of the gourd is hardly noticeable in this case and I don't mind chewing away these healthy and guilt-free crisps. They are that good. Serve them as a side dish for sambhar / rasam dishes or just serve them as an evening snack.

Ingredients:
1 to 2 bitter gourds, depending on the size (I had about 35 slices.)
2 tbsp. chickpea flour / besan
2 Tbsp. Oil
Chili powder to taste
Salt to taste

Method:
* Wash and pat dry the bitter gourd. Slice the bitter gourd into thin discs. Discard any mature seeds. I used a large gourd and had about 35 slices.
* Combine besan, chili powder and salt in a wide bowl or a large plate. Add oil and the bitter gourd slices to the bowl and mix well so that each disc is coated with the besan mixture.
* Grease a microwave safe glass plate and arrange the discs in a singer layer on it.
* Microwave for about 5 minutes, checking once intermittently to make sure that discs have not stuck to the plate.
* Flip them and continue to microwave, checking once every two minutes. Remove once they turn crisp.
* Depending upon the microwave power, these crisps should take about 10 - 12 minutes from start to finish.

This is my post under '3 Ingredient Dishes' since oil and salt are not counted. Check the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking for BM#53.

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