Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu (Air Fryer, Stove top)

Recipe Cooked, Photographed and Written by Praveena

PrepTime:15 mins   CookTime:15 mins   Cuisine:Indian

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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

1. How to cut & store ‘Tindora’ before cooking:
2. Possible Alterations for the recipe, ‘Ivy Gourd Dry Curry / South Indian Tindora Fry’:
3. Short Video Clip:
4. How to serve, ‘Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu’:
5. Health Benefits of ‘Tindora Fry / Ivy Gourd fry’:
6. Other recipes from my blog:
7. Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Tindora / Dondakaya Fry (Air fryer, Stove topMethods) ‘:
8. Prep Work (common for both methods):
9. Stove Top Method Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu:
10. Air Fryer Method Tindora Fry / Dondakaya Vepudu:
11. Tips & Storage:
12. Result:
13. Ingredients, Accessories on ‘AMAZON’ to ‘SHOP’:
14. Recipe Card & Print:

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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

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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:

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