Indian Vegetable Sides: Spicy Tindora Stir-Fry

Tindora, also known as Ivy Gourd is commonly had in Indian cuisine. Until I read the wikipedia page, I had no idea that this fruit had so many medicinal properties! There's always something to learn in this wide world. 

In Indian cuisine, tindora is frequently cooked and stir-fried with a spicy curry powder such as sambar powder to make a vegetable side that goes well with rice or rotis. 

This style of cooking and stir-frying vegetables with spices is one of the most basic, simplest, and common ways of preparing Indian vegetable sides. This is almost like a formula. If you know this, you can pretty much prepare any vegetable by currying it!

(Side note: I know tindora is not exactly a vegetable per se, but we are used to regarding it as one because of its prominence in savory dishes. So, please look past the glaring term!)

Ingredients (serves 4-5):

1. 8 cups of sliced tindora (seems like a lot, but it will wilt slightly)
2. 2 - 2.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
3. 3/4 teaspoon black mustard seeds
4. 1 tablespoon split husked black gram / urad dal / ulutham paruppu
5. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
6. 1/4 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
7. 1-2 dry red chillies, split
8. salt, as needed
9. 1.5 - 2 teaspoons sambar powder or curry powder

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a deep pan. When hot, splutter mustard seeds. Add black gram, hing, red chillies, and turmeric powder and fry until the gram begins to change color. 
2. Add the tindora and fry and mix with the spices. Sprinkle salt, and about 1/4 cup of water and cook the tindora with the pan closed and checking every few minutes to make sure the bottom doesn't burn. Cook on low-medium heat. 
3. When the tindora is almost cooked, add the sambar powder or curry powder and fry without closing the pan. Increase the heat to medium and keep frying and cooking the tindora until it cooks and some portions char slightly

Remove from heat and serve on the side of rotis or rice

Variations:

Apply this stir-fry formula to pretty much any vegetable/fruit of your choice. Zucchini can also be prepared in the same way (without the addition of water) and to my palate at least, zucchini stir fry tastes very similar to tindora. Broccoli stir-fry in the same manner tastes good too.

Depending on the vegetable you are cooking, adjust the quantity and time it requires to cook. If making a stir fry with okra, do not add any water! Do not add water to vegetables like cauliflower or okra or squash that tend to get mushy or sticky. 

Some people steam the tindora first and then stir fry it with the spices. But I like to do stir-fry before steaming so that there is some crunch and char on the tindora. So, depending on the vegetable, you can first steam it and then saute it.

While seasoning the oil, you can also add curry leaves, ginger etc.