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Tindora Sabzi

by | Jun 1, 2018 | Vegetarian | 4 comments

Tindora Sabzi

Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course dinner, lunch
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 400g/ 14oz tindora/kovakka/ivy gourd/dondakaya up to a pound of tindora is fine for this recipe
  • 1 large Yellow Onion 5oz/140g
  • 1 large tomato 6oz/180g
  • 1 green chile
  • 1 tsp minced ginger
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp Red Chili Powder
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 1/4 tsp hing powder
  • tsp or two tamarind water optional substitute 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Instructions
 

  • Wash the tindora well, trim the ends if you need to, some ends are not tough so you don’t have to trim them. Quarter them.
  • Heat up a pan and add a few tablespoons of coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add 1 tsp mustard seeds. When they pop, add 1 dried red chile, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ¼ tsp hing powder, 1 large onion sliced, a little salt. A sprig of curry leaves, 1 green chile slit. Stir and cook until the onions are soft. Then, add one tsp of minced garlic and one tsp of minced ginger. Saute until golden. Add ¼ tsp turmeric, tbsp of ground coriander, ¼ tsp red chili powder. Make sure the heat is low so the spices don’t burn.
  • Stir for a minute and add one large tomato chopped, a little salt. Sautee this until the tomatoes are soft. Add the tindora, salt and saute for a minute. Add ½ cup of water, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the tindora is cooked. It’s a firm vegetable and does take at least 15 minutes to cook properly. They should not be crisp tender, they should be a little soft but not mushy. Stir occasionally.
  • Stir occasionally. 15 minutes later, add another sprig of curry leaves. My tindora will take another 5 minutes to cook. Taste and add more salt if you like. Get all the brown bits on the bottom. If your tomatoes weren’t very sour and the tindora needs a little sourness, take a small piece of tamarind and soak it in a little boiling water. Mix it up and use a tsp or two of the liquid towards the end of cooking. This is optional, you can substitute ½ tsp of apple cider vinegar if you can’t get tamarind.
  • I like to eat this healthy vegetarian dish with hot rice. You can also serve it with any kind of bread.

4 Comments

  1. Qing
    Qing on February 28, 2019 at 1:58 pm

    Last night I used your recipe to cook tindora for the very first time. I didn’t have hing powder and forgot to use vinegar, but I still liked the dish very much. Thank you!

    • AnitaCooks
      AnitaCooks on February 28, 2019 at 11:29 pm

      Happy to hear it 😀

  2. Sridhar
    Sridhar on May 13, 2020 at 2:33 pm

    “Add one tsp of minced garlic and one tsp of minced ginger just before the onions are golden. I completely forgot to add them earlier.”

    What if you had not forgotten to add the garlic and ginger earlier? What is the optimum time to add it?

    Thank you.

    • AnitaCooks
      AnitaCooks on May 16, 2020 at 1:38 pm

      Hi, add ginger and garlic a few minutes after you put the onions in, when the onions are soft 🙂