Recipe Cooked, Photographed and Written by Praveena
PrepTime:15 mins CookTime:15 mins Cuisine:Indian
Recipe Card ⇓ Shop ⇓

This green vegetable has many names, some of them are Tindora (in Hindi), Kundru, Dondakaya (in Telugu), Ivy Gourd, Scarlet gourd, Kowai Fruit.
First of all, let me tell you this, these tiny green veggies are THE MOST favourite vegetable for me. I love to eat any variety of dish, made with them.
I was just wondering upon myself, “How come, I didn’t share any recipe with my fav veggie?!” So, let me start with this easy & simple stir fry recipe.
Table of Contents:
Click to Expand / Collapse
- How to cut & store ‘Tindora’ before cooking:
- Possible Alterations for the recipe, ‘Ivy Gourd Dry Curry / South Indian Tindora Fry’:
- Short Video Clip:
- How to serve, ‘Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu’:
- Health Benefits of ‘Tindora Fry / Ivy Gourd fry’:
- Other recipes from my blog:
- Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Tindora / Dondakaya Fry (Air fryer, Stove topMethods) ‘:
- Prep Work (common for both methods):
- Stove Top Method Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu:
- Air Fryer Method Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu:
- Tips & Storage:
- Result:
- Ingredients, Accessories on ‘AMAZON’ to ‘SHOP’:
- Recipe Card & Print:

How to cut & store ‘Tindora’ before cooking:
I tried all the possible ways, like food processor, shredder, hand chopper, hand knife, to cut them. Among all, I was most satisfied ONLY with a hand knife.
Its a bit of time taking to cut / chop these beauties with a knife, but my love for them overrides all that.
One thing to remember is, the prep time is entirely for cutting alone, which might take 15 mins approximately for a ¼ kg.
Wash them thoroughly, take each one, slice off the edges on both sides, and then proceed to cut in any desired shape. Like round, halves, strip length wise, diagonally. Except something very fine size like grating, which is not preferable.
Cut & store them in an air-tight container / zip – lock and store it in fridge, for at least up to 4-5 days before you cook.

Possible Alterations for the recipe, ‘Ivy Gourd Dry Curry / South Indian Tindora Fry’:
Adding Onion: Add slices of onions (½ cup) into the frying pan (stove top method), sauté in oil for 2 mins, then continue with the recipe. For air fryer method, add the onions along with tindora pieces.
To Add Garlic: While frying the tindora / dondakaya pieces, just add 4 garlic cloves.
Using coconut: At While adding the spice powders, you can 1½ tablespoon of dry coconut powder / desiccated coconut. It gives that nutty flavour to the dish.
Other spices to add: You can add 1 tablespoon of any of these South Indian powder / podi :
- Spice Mix for Roasted Veg / Vepudu Karam Podi
- Fresh Coconut Chutney Powder (Oil Free)
- Rasam Powder Recipe / Charu Podi
Short Video Clip:
How to serve, ‘Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu’:
Being a dry curry recipe, this dish is generally served as a side dish with rice (or) roti, along with dal (or) sambar (or) rasam as accompaniments.
Given below is a South Indian style meal platter which consists of this recipe of Tindora / Ivy Goud Fry. Detailed recipe link for the below Meal Platter⇒ Bhojanam / Thali / Platter # 9

Health Benefits of ‘Tindora Fry / Ivy Gourd fry’:
Tindora / Ivy Gourd gives us these excellent health benefits, mainly regulates blood pressure, used in ayurveda for reducing diabetes, improves digestion, prevents fatigue, obesity.
Do you know that it can be eaten raw with some lemon juice / sugar sprinkled on it. Try it, they are crunchy! 🙂
Carom Seeds / Vaamu, mainly aids in easy digestion and useful for dental health as well.
To Conclude: This recipe is suitable for a Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free, Keto Friendly, Fat Free, Low Oil, Diabetic Friendly recipe.

Other recipes from my blog:
Before starting to cook, don’t forget to see the Tips mentioned at the end.
Curry recipes collection⇒ Curry / Koora / Stir Fry
Rice recipes collection⇒ Rice Recipes
Air Fryer recipes collection⇒ Air – Fryer Recipes
Related Posts:




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Ingredients:
- Tindora / Ivy Gourd – 250 gms / 2 measuring cups
- Roasted Peanut Powder / Palli podi – 1 tablespoon
- Besan / Chickpea flour / Gram flour – 1 tablespoon
- Vaamu / Carom Seeds / Ajwain – ½ teaspoon
- Red Chilli Powder / Paprika – 1 teaspoon (as per taste)
- Turmeric Powder – ¼ teaspoon
- Salt – as per taste
Special Ingredients:
- Vaamu / Carom Seeds / Caraway Seeds / Ajwain
- Roasted Peanut Powder / Palli podi

Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Tindora / Dondakaya Fry (Air fryer, Stove topMethods) ‘:
Prep Work (common for both methods):

Stove Top Method Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu:



Air Fryer Method Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu:





Tips & Storage:
- Adjust the salt & spice as per your taste.
- 200ºC is same as 390ºF approximately.
- Set the air-fryer timings according to the crispiness of the tindora / ivy gourd pieces, as per your taste.
- Oil-spray after adding spices can be done, or can be eliminated.
- The spices might drop down the mesh, you can avoid it by spreading a parchment paper / foil on the mesh. I did not use it though.
- This, Tindora / dondakaya fry (air-fryer & stove top methods), stays good up to 2-3 days at room temperature. Its a perfect travel food.
- Storage: Can be stored in fridge for 4 to 5 days and re-heated before serving.
Result:
- This, Tindora / Dondakaya fry (Air fryer & stove top methods), tastes best with steamed plain rice, any pulao, any flat bread, chapathi, roti or phulka.
- We didn’t find any difference in taste with the air-fried or stove top tindora / ivy gourd.
- We had this spicy fry as a side with steamed white rice paired up with Broccoli Dal. That made a perfect combo. 🙂

Ingredients, Accessories on ‘AMAZON’ to ‘SHOP’:
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Scoville Neverstick 2 Piece Frying Pan Set (24cm & 28cm)Recipe Card & Print:

Tindora Fry / Andhra style Dondakaya Vepudu (Air Fryer, Stove Top)
Equipment
- 1 Frying pan (for stove-top method)
- 1 Air-Fryer for air-fryer method
Ingredients
- 2 cups Tindora / Dondakaya / Ivy Gourd
- 1 tablespoon Palli Podi / Roasted Peanut Powder
- 1 tablespoon Besan / Chickpea Flour / Gram Flour
- ½ teaspoon Vaamu / Carom Seeds/ Ajwain
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder/ Paprika (or as per taste)
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- as per taste Salt
Instructions
Prep Work:
- Wash the tindora, take each one, slice off the edges on both sides, cut into half, and slice each half into length wise pieces.
Stove Top Method Dondakaya Vepudu:
- Put a frying pan on stove top under medium flame, add oil & heat, transfer all the tindora pieces into the pan. Add salt & turmeric powder. Sprinkle some water, close the lid.
- After 5 mins, add the ajwain / carom seeds, sprinkle some more water, close the lid for 5 more mins. Keep stirring in between. If required sprinkle water too.
- When the pieces soften (to your desired level), add the red chilli powder, roasted peanut powder and besan / chickpea flour.
- Mix thoroughly, remove lid. Switch off the stove after 2 more mins. Done!
Air Fryer Method Tindora Fry:
- Spray the oil / brush oil throughout the air-fryer’s mesh. Transfer veg pieces on the air-fryer mesh.
- Add the salt and turmeric powder. Give a mix, cook for 10 mins, at 200ºC.
- Pause, add the red chilli powder, roasted peanut powder, carom seeds / ajwain & besan / chickpea flour. Give a thorough mix. Give oil spray throughout the entire veg.
- Cook for more 8 to 10 mins, at 200ºC. As per your desired crunchiness. Done!
Notes
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This is my favourite vegetable. I made this dish in the airfyer. Thanks for giving us a tasty and simple recipe with only a few ingredients 😊
Hi Pallavi. S, Thank you so much for taking time to let me know your feedback. 🙂 🙂
Hello. I wish this recipe was not on this utterly horrible website with so many ads that literally screws up the screen while trying to read your recipe. It’s absolutely frustrating!
Anyway I don’t understand. Do we need to first cut and store tindora in fridge for 4-5 days BEFORE cooking it. I am confused. Please explain. Thank you.
Hi K.Dos, There is no need to cut & store before cooking, it is just a time saving option mentioned, as it takes plenty of time to cut the tindora. You can proceed with the recipe directly.
And regarding the website, it is my own website. You could even use nice words to write about any modifications regarding the website.
I will definitely make the necessary changes with respect to the ads display, please bear with me. Thank you. Hope this helps.
I tried your air fryer recipe a few days back, turned out very good. Wanted to thank you!
Hi Subha Kumar, Thank you for trying and letting me know your feedback.