Bitter Melon Curry

We have a wonderful Asian vegetable table at our local farmer's market, where we routinely get long beans and bean sprouts, as well as fresh herbs--but recently my husband brought home some bitter melon. What sounds good about that? Other than we've never made it before? Well, apparently that is enough to justify the purchase--where was my sense of adventure, my husband wanted to know. It was sequestered safely amidst foods that I recognize.
He made a wonderful Bitter Melon Curry out of Raghavan Iyer's wonderful '660 Curries' cookbook--the result was a surprisingly interesting dish that had a balance of bitter, hot, a little bit sweet and a little bit salty, combined with an umami that you rarely see in a vegetarian dish.
4 small bitter melon
2 Tbs. kosher salt
4 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 c. finely chopped red onion
1 large tomato
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1/4 c. chopped cilantro, thrown in at the end
Cut off the end of the melons, peel them, take out the seeds and cut them up very small. The remaining pile of vegetables will be significantly diminished from when you started. Put the melon in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let them sit for 2-3 hours to diminish bitterness, then rinse them and pat dry.
Heat up 2 tbs. of oil and fry the bitter melon until caramelized and brown, about 10 minutes, then set aside.
Heat up the remaining 2 Tbs. of oil and saute the onions. Add the tomato, garam masala, cayenne, sugar, and tumeric and cook until soft--5 to 10 minutes. Add the bitter melon, and about 1/2 c. water and simmer another 5-10 minutes. Serve with rice--the longer you cook it the less bitter the melon.