Tindora Fry (Kovakkai Fry) or Ivy Gourd Fry is a healthy option to make as side for an Indian style meal. Pair it with Dal Rice or Chapati for a healthy meal. Here is how to make tindora fry recipe.
What is Tindora?
Tindora or ivy gourd resembles a small baby cucumber and is a very popular vegetable in India. It is also called as Dondakaya, Kovakkai, Tondli, Tendli, Thondekai or Kovakka in various parts of the country.
It goes well with a variety of Indian staples and it’s a great vegetable to incorporate in your diet as it is high in fibre, beta-carotenes and other essential nutrients.
It’s also popular in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, and here in India it is commonly made with masala or added in sambar.
There are many different ways in which it can be cooked. I am sharing a Tindora Masala recipe. You can also make it with tomatoes in a light gravy, or make it stuffed. You can also make it Andhra style with dal which is called Dondakaya Senagapappu.
In Maharashtra it’s made by adding peanuts to it.
Health Benefits of Tindora
Some of the benefits of the Tindora vegetable is that it helps lower blood sugar and is great for treating diabetes.
How to make Tindora Fry
To make this Tindora Fry, some vegetable oil is heated in a pan. Once the oil is hot, hing and cumin seeds are added and allowed to crackle for a few seconds. Then onions are added and fried till translucent.
Finally tindora that’s cut into roundlets are added along with coriander powder, powdered red chilli, turmeric powder and some salt.
All the ingredients are mixed together well and a little water is sprinkled into the pan. Then the pan is covered and the Tindora masala is allowed to cook for a few minutes till the tindora is slightly softened.
It’s best not to cook the Tindora Fry for too long as this dish tastes best when the vegetable is still slightly crunchy. It’s to be served hot as a side dish.
While planning your meal for the day or the week, it’s great to incorporate a variety of locally grown vegetables as it helps add a range of much needed nutrients and minerals to your diet. It also helps to make your meals interesting by adding a variety of colours and textures to your meal.
It’s also when you cook with different vegetables that you’ll be able to understand as to which vegetables go together and complement each other. Most of the time, this humble vegetable is forgotten, but given the amount of nutrition and fibre it adds to your diet, its brilliant to add to your curries or incorporate it in the form of this subzi.
Sometimes the leaves of Tindora or Ivy Gourd are also used to make a healthy subzi. So the next time you’re planning on making something different for lunch or dinner, give this Tindora Fry Recipe a try.
What to serve with Tindora Fry?
You can serve it with Dal Rice, Paratha, Chapathi or dosa.
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How to make Tindora Fry Step By Step
Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
Once the oil is hot, add hing and cumin seeds and let them crackle for a few seconds.
Add onion and fry until they turn translucent.
Add tindora, coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well. Sprinkle a little water.
Cover the pan and cook for 8-10 minutes until tindora are slightly softened. They taste good when slightly crunchy. Serve hot as a side with any Indian meal.
Tindora Fry Video Recipe
Tindora Fry Recipe
Tindora Fry (Dondakaya Fry)
Step By Step and Video instructions to make Tindora Fry (Dondakaya Fry). This dish is a healthy option to make as side for an Indian style meal.
Ingredients
- 500 g Tindora Cut into roundels
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp Hing
- 2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 cup Onion Thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add hing and cumin seeds and let them crackle for a few seconds.
- Add onion and fry until they turn translucent.
- Add tindora, coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.
- Mix well.
- Sprinkle a little water.
- Cover the pan and cook for 8-10 minutes until tindora are slightly softened.
- They taste good when slightly crunchy.
- Serve hot as a side with any Indian meal.
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Pamela (BrooklynFarmGirl)
This looks so delicious 🙂
SAKSHI SHARMA
This looks really delicious! Though I m from Delhi, I’ve never tried tindora. I’ve seen these in the Indian grocery stores and I’ll definitely try this recipe soon.
Neha Mathur
Do try. It’s an everyday Indian Sabzi which tastes delicious too.