Thondekayi Fry

Thondekayi/ Tindora/ Ivy gourd is a famous vegetable in India, especially in the South, used in different curries and stews. Thondekayi palya is an effortless yet delicious recipe that tastes best with chapatis or alongside rice-dal. This dry palya/curry is one of the simple recipes that one could prep in under 30 minutes.

I have used minimal ingredients such as thondekayi, salt, turmeric powder, and red chili flakes to make this dish. If you wish, you could garnish with some grated coconut plus some fried channa dal and urad dal at the end. Continue reading to know the step by step procedure to prepare this tasty curry.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 3 servings

ingredients:

250g Tondekayi or Ivy Gourd
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons of red chilli flakes for heat, freshly ground or store-bought
Salt to taste

procedure:

1. Rinse tindora under cold running water and slice each of them vertically into 4 parts and set them aside.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a medium-sized pan.
3. Once the oil is hot enough, add turmeric powder and fry for 10 seconds.
4. Transfer the sliced tindora into the pan, sprinkle salt over it, and mix well. Cover the pan lid and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat or until tindora is well cooked. Then remove the pan lid and stir fry until they turn golden brown.
5. Add roughly chopped onion and fry for 2 minutes.
6. Add the red chilli flakes, mix well, cook for another minute and turn off the heat.
7. Enjoy simple and yummy tindora fry with chapatis or as a side dish with dal-rice.

note:

• You can tweak the quantity of each ingredient as per your taste and preference.
• If you like some crunchiness, fry 1 tsp each of channa dal and urad dal in 2 tbsp vegetable oil and add it to tindora stir fry.
• You could store this curry for a day in the refrigerator.