Another recipe with tindora (ivy gourd, dondakaya, Kovakku), this time with a sauce. Sauce is prepared from roasted sesame seeds, fresh coconut and dried chillies, sweetened with little bit of jaggery. Usually sesame sauce calls for the addition of tamarind, but in this case, slightly sour taste of tindora cancels the need for tamarind.
A different recipe, sweet and sour – because of jaggery and tindoras, nutty and nourishing due to sesame-coconut combination. A must try, for those of you who are interested in cooking up something new with tindoras.
Recipe:
20 fresh tindoras – each, cut crosswise into rounds (3 to 5),
1 medium sized onion – finely chopped
½ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup powdered coconut – I used fresh coconut-oven dried
4 to 6 dried red chillies
1 tablespoon powdered jaggery (or to your taste)
½ teaspoon salt and turmeric
Popu or tadka ingredients
Preparation:
In an iron skillet, lightly toast sesame seeds, powdered coconut and dried red chillies. Cool and take them in a blender or food processor and make a smooth paste.
In a pan, heat one teaspoon of peanut oil, do the popu or tadka i.e. toasting one teaspoon each of mustard seeds, cumin, minced garlic and curry leaves
Add onion, saute a little bit, and then add round slices of tindora. Mix them once, cover and cook, stirring in between for 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat. Allow cooking tindora in its own moisture, sort of steam-saute.
When they are tender and giving off wonderful smell, add the sesame-coconut paste, jaggery, salt and turmeric. Add half glass of water. Stir to mix and cook them covered, until the sauce thickens. Serve warm with rice or chapati.
I have to say this curry tastes great with chapati/roti than with rice.
Tindora Curry with chapatis ~ Our lunch today.
You use shallow DOF to great effect. I enjoy your dish visually even before I try to make them at home!
Tindora is my favorite sabji, so I am going to try this recipe! 🙂
Comment by JD — January 10, 2006 @ 2:53 pm
I’m still experimenting with the settings and learning. I’m now in a stage of ‘I don’t know what I’m doing with this mammoth camera and why did I ask for it’ stage. 🙂
If you like tindoras, I’m sure you are going to like this version. Do let me know how it turns out in your kitchen. Thanks.
Comment by Indira — January 10, 2006 @ 3:01 pm
Hi Indira!
I have never tried cooking this vegetable. I remember eating it years ago in B’lore at an Andhra restaurant. Its readily available at my usual Indian grocery store and I think I can muster up the courage to buy it this weekend. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes!
Indira replies…
Give it a try, Meena. Different taste albeit an acquired one.
Lucky that you get fresh Indian veggies out there, where you live.
Comment by Meena — January 10, 2006 @ 5:10 pm
Gotta agree with JD, Indira… your photos are really really good!
Indira replies…
Thanks Shammi!
Comment by shammi — January 10, 2006 @ 5:18 pm
Indira,
Wow another Tindora dish. btw, I tried the one you posted a couple of days ago. loved it!
Indira replies…
I’ve fridge full of Indian veggies from Toronto trip. I’m finishing them off one by one. Tindora session is over 🙂 for now.:)
I’m glad you enjoyed the tindora fry recipe. Very easy, right?
Comment by garammasala — January 10, 2006 @ 6:10 pm
Hi Indira!
I really like your website and have bookmarked it and visit pretty much daily. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes with detailed pics! I have a small question, what kind of a tava/griddle do you use for your roti’s. They come out really well.
TIA
Lakshmi
Indira replies…
Hello Lakshmi, I’m happy that you like this blog and thanks for bookmarking it and for the daily visits.
I use an iron tava. I brought it from my home town, Nandyala. Very thin tava, the kind, they make back in India, especially for chapatis/pulkas. They cook fast and comeout very well.
Comment by Lakshmi — January 10, 2006 @ 7:42 pm
Is that the veg that looks a bit like potol??
Comment by tony — January 11, 2006 @ 2:40 am
Indira, I haven’t left a comment in a while, but I wanted to let you know that I just can’t get enough of your wonderful recipes and stunning photos. You definitely got my vote in the food blog awards!
Indira replies…
Thanks Brett, coming from you, that means a lot. I really appreciate your vote and support!
Comment by Brett — January 11, 2006 @ 2:41 am
Hi Indira
Its a wonderful recipe and Iam so gonna try it tomorrow..But theres one thing I have been thinking of asking you..In every recipe of urs u mention about 1 tsp of oil(being a fitness eccentric I really adore that)but I always end up using 3-4 tsp..coz the onions dont get sauted properly with 1tsp alone and they tend to seem burnt and so do the vegetables..Is that something wrong I do or do I need to use a hard teflon coated vessel..I really want to follow ur recipes religiously..Iam sorry if my doubt was silly and I wasted ur time..
Comment by Krithika — January 11, 2006 @ 12:21 pm
Hi Krithika, no problem.
I follow a method – See if I can explain it clearly. First I heat the peanut oil, do the popu, then add the onions. Now I increase the heat and concentrate on sauteeing the onions. I fry them,continuously stirring until they turn color, happens in few minutes, oil or no oil, just by heat. Then I will add the tomatoes or other things etc.,.
Concentrate on the curry, first few minutes,then add the veggies, reduce the heat to medium or medium-low, leave them alone.
It works for me.
Trail and error, develop a method, and you don’t have to worry about these things ever.
Hope this helps.:)
Comment by Indira — January 11, 2006 @ 2:38 pm
Hi Indira
Thanks a lot for looking into my problem and helping me..Iam sure your method is going to work out fine..Iam applying it from today.
It was very kind of you to take time and answer my query and thanks a lot for the nutritious and tasty recipes you are sharing with us.
Comment by Krithika — January 11, 2006 @ 11:59 pm
I absolutely adore your blog and I have made it a habit to visit it once everyday. And your popularity is stunning…the moment you post a blog there are tonnes of comments already.
Keep’em coming!
Indira says…
Hello Supriya, thanks for taking time and writing these nice words about my blog.
Lot of foodies out there, hungering for food. 🙂
I did visit your blog few times(followed the hits), but never left a comment. You are updating regularly now.:)
Comment by Supriya — January 13, 2006 @ 2:23 am
Hey, thats nice of you 🙂
By the way, inspired by you, I have also started clicking snaps to go with the post. Check out my new posting about sugarcane 🙂
Comment by Supriya — January 14, 2006 @ 9:57 am
i made this yesterday, and it was really good, totally different.I dint add jaggery.i kinda liked the slightly bitter taste of the sesame.i felt 1 cup of sesame was little too much for the sauce.but in ur pic it looks perfect.thanx for the recipe.
Indira replies…
These cup measurements are killing me. My style of cooking is often ‘andaaz’ measurements. I don’t why I wrote 1 cup, I do think, it’s little bit too much. Thanks for pointing it out, I’m going to change the measurement to half cup.
thanks, Priya.
Comment by priya,ar — January 21, 2006 @ 12:51 pm
oh indira, iam sorry, u know since iam a amateur i use the exact measurements that i find in recipe.The recipes i find in bawarchi, recipezaar and others are difficult for me coz the use the andaaz technique.Even my my mom when i call her to get some recipes she says, take little ginger, little garlic, little red chilli powder. And i always goof up.But all ur recipes have turned out just perfect for me . thers no chance of goofing up until its my mistake. i think it hightime i learn the andaaz technique. hey when i clicked ur link, the layout was in blue and suddenly it changed to the old one.
Comment by priya,ar — January 23, 2006 @ 3:53 pm
Another great recipe from your online cook book. I relished the dish with some chapatis. The taste was something new, and to my liking. Even my roommate who generally makes wierd faces, no matter how good the food is, liked it. All in all, it’s a great recipe. Marinni Andhra vantalu nerpichchandi gurvinigaru.
Indira replies:
I am glad you liked this recipe and thanks for letting me know.
Comment by Raghuveer — May 17, 2006 @ 11:01 pm
Indira, i am a long time reader and first time commentor. I tried this sabzee today and it worked out v v well.
I made rotis and parathas to go with it and it was an awesome lunch.
Thanks for introducing me to this sabzee.
What other vegetables do you recommend cooking in this gravy?
Thanks
Anindita
Comment by A.. — September 8, 2007 @ 7:05 pm
miam, que c’est bon!
Comment by lory — September 27, 2007 @ 2:14 am
dear indira,
thanks for this delicious recipe.
tindora is one of my favourite stir fry, but this particular recipe is just fit for a kings meal.
i kept eating it with fulkas.
appreciate you time and effort to share your recipes with the world .
Comment by swati — April 18, 2010 @ 9:39 am
Eh!Niceof you to have introduced a dish of my favourite.tried .found it worth for Riceand rotis
radhe
Comment by RadhaR — September 7, 2011 @ 1:57 pm