When I started cooking soon after I moved out of India, I remember I used to wonder what some of the vegetables I was familiar with were called in English so I could look for them here. Sometimes I would look for the tamil name for some veggies I came across here. For those like me, tindora as it is known in hindi is called Ivy gourd in English, Kovakkai or dondankai in tamil. I now learned that it is also known as gentleman’s toes, hmm. It is one of the vegetables that I really enjoyed back home but certainly missed it here in Scotland. As usual, whenever we went to Indian grocers far away, I would get some of this vegetable as well. I read that this is good for diabetics as it helps regulate the insulin metabolism. It is also said to have been used to treat asthma, bronchitis, fever, leprosy and jaundice. I usually cook it in some oil and add chilly powder but this time around, I wanted to do something else with it. Mom would make a sabji out of it that would go well with chapattis. I was making this for lunch so paired this with tomato pulav. It turned out to be very good and even though I was unsure if my husband would like it, he quite enjoyed it. So, all well, here is a simple recipe…
3-4 cups tindora, cut into long pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
½ teaspoon chilly powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
¼ teaspoon garam masala (add more if using store bought masala powder)
½ teaspoon amchur powder
½ teaspoon kasoori methi
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Cooking oil
Heat some oil and add the cumin seeds. Once it turns brown, add onions and ginger and fry until it changes colour
Add the tindora, required salt and cook covered until cooked
Add coriander powder, cumin powder, kasoori methi, coriander powder, chilly powder and cook on flame for about five minutes
Add garam masala and cook for another couple of minutes and it is ready to serve
Love this sabji simply with some rotis.
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