karela or bitter melon

The bitter melon is the fruit of a annual climbing vine
with tendrils. This vine nowadays grows in the
tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa
and the Caribbean and Guyana.

buying a bitter melon

Bitter melon is generally consumed cooked in the green
unripe stage. The flesh is like that of a cumcumber,
and the seeds are white. only the skin and flesh
are eaten.
If they are ripe and yellow they can't be eaten
any more as the flesh becomes to bitter.
In that stage the seeds become a red color
and are edible.

how to prepare bitter melon

Start by cutting of the end of the bitter lemon,
slice it lengthwise , and remove the seeds with
a spoon. Slice the bitter melon crosswise
into small slices.

bitter melon appearance

This vegetable has a warty appearance is the Indian
subcontinent and caribean, And a more knobby
appearance on Okinawa and in China.

bitter melon or goya in Japan

The Japanese Island Okinawa produces a large
amount of bitter melon or goya, providing the mainland
of Japan with this vegetable. Bitter melon is
increasingly used in the Japanese cuisine as
it seen as one of the reasons that life
exspectatation on Okinawa is suprisingly high.

bitter melon is healthy

There are good reasons to believe that tea the
leaves of bitter melon has important properties
against malaria, as a treatment and as a prevention
of malaria.
Bitter melon is believed to contain medicinal properties
that can treat malaria, and diabetes and heart disease.
The hypoglycemic effect of bitter melon include alkaloids
and peptides known as charantins that has a simular
effect as insulin.

sopropo in Surinam

Bitter melons are called sopropo in Surinam. Sopropo is boiled and stir-fried with garlic and onions. Sopropo is a major crop, and much of it is exported. Traditional recipes are salted meat or salted fish: bakkeljauw. One of the reasons for the high consumption is the believe that sopropo has a role in preventing and treatment of malaria.

growing bitter melon

This annual plant is a climbing vine with tendrils that can grow up to a height of more then 4 meters. The yellow flowers usually appear on the plant during the summer and monsoon. Fruits can be harvested in fall.

karela

karchi