Tindora is a green vegetable which is popular in many parts of India and is known by many names (ivy gourd, kovakai, tondli, giloda…just to name a few). It resembles a watermelon but is only the size of your little pinky. Tindora can be cooked as a subzi all by itself or mixed with other vegetables like potato. Tindora are also used in many sambar recipes. When you’re running out of vegetables to cook, don’t pass up Tindora in the grocery aisle and try this simple, yet delicious subzi recipe.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: Approx 20-25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Tindora – approx 1 1/2 lbs, sliced
Oil – 1 Tbsp
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida – 1/8 tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Salt – to taste
Method:
1. Heat Oil in a medium non-stick pan on medium heat.
2. Add Mustard Seeds and allow them to pop.
3. Add Cumin Seeds and let them sizzle.
4. Add Asofoetida, Turmeric Powder, Green Chilies and Tindora. Mix well.
5. Add Salt, Red Chili Powder, Coriander Powder and Cumin Powder.
6. Mix well, cover and cook until Tindora are tender. Stir every few minutes to cook evenly and prevent burning.
7. When Tindora are tender, uncover and cook for an additional few minutes to lightly brown them.
Tips:
1. In a time crunch, use the slicer blade of your food processor to roughly chop/slice the tindora.
2. Cleaned and cut Tindora freeze well.
3. Be careful when salting Tindora. They tend to shrink and become a little salty and tangy.
I love tindora and i used to relish on it at my mum’s place. However after moving to Malaysia never saw it selling in any of the supermarkets.Recently saw it selling at at a mart near me…i was curious to find a simple recipe and i found it here! Thanks…love your videos…informative , simple and easy to follow.
Try https://www.chopwizard.com/ for cutting small cubes of tindora – very effective and very quick – cutting time cut from 30 min to 10 min max for 2 pounds.
We bought these at Bed Bath and Beyond – they are usually stacked at the front of the store – subscribe to mail in offers from BBB and they give $5 off and you will get this for around $20.
Do you cook tindora covering the lid even it its frozen or just let lid it only when freshly cut?
We cover it both ways.
I tried this but didn’t went good.
Hi, I love your site/blog. I get a lot of info for customers. I just wanted to say thanks. Please view our site for Great Indian Groceries.
Hi Hetal & Ahuja,
Always a pleasure to watch your recepies..
I live in Mauritius, &
I have loads of Tindora growing in my garden
They taste good in chicken curry,meat curry & dals too.
Keep up the fun recepies.
Reg Jyotsna
Hi Jyotsna,
Thanks for sharing your ideas! We have a recipe for Tindora Pickle you may enjoy. Here it is: https://34.233.61.50/pickles-chutneys/tindora-pickle.html
Hello Hetal & Anuja,
I was planning to make Tindora for tomorrow’s lunch.
You mentioned in the video that you can chop tindora roughly using a food processor. Could you please explain how? I mean, using the normal chopping blade we use for chopping onions or the one used to grate veggies? And do we just put the whole thing in the processor?
Sorry if its a dumb question..
Kuddos to you guys, you are doing a wonderful job!
Hi Suchi,
Most Food Processors have a slicer blade. I use that for slicing the Tindora. It does not make the long finger-like pieces but the small circles but is so much faster and easier…. 😉
You have to drop the tindora from the shoot/mouth while the FP is turned on.
Thank you so much, Anuja.
I guess by slicer blade you meant the below?
http://www.torreelectrics.co.uk/acatalog/17371_6mmslicer.jpg
I am a tindora fan, but make it rarely because of the time it takes to chop it. I am fine with all shapes circles, squares or triangles (or a combination of all 🙂 if I can chop it quickly.
BTW, I tried this recipe with frozen chopped tindora and it was fantastic!! I am going to try it again with fresh ones (chopped using FP)
I really like all of your recipes, but I find I can cut the oil down to 1 – 2 tsp for most of your recipes. This cut down on the calories and fat.
My mother-in-law is a physician (as well as an amazing cook) in India and taught me this.
i tried your recipe yesterday…. it came out so well that I could not stop my husband from licking his fingers… thanks for the recipe….
but what if i have frozen sliced tindora? do i need to soak in water before i cook them?
thanks,
Sonal 🙂
Hi Sonal,
The best way to use sliced frozen tindora is to pull them out of your freezer right when you are ready to cook and run it under a tap (flowing water). Once it seperates, add to your pan.
Do not let it sit in water or else it will get very mushy while cooking.
Potato with Tindora is also a gr8 combination. Use the potato in long strips with this receipe.
I love to watch your receipes but your audio is very bad. Sometimes we can hardly hear you. Sometimes both of you speaks so low that we dont understand.
Also another quick question.. When you say medium flame, wat is the number in the electric stove that are normally used in US?? I like gas stove, but I have an electric one…. Please help..
Thanks, Anju
Hi Anju,
When we say “medium”, “high”, etc, it is just a guideline. It really will depend on each individual stove, the thickness of the pan you use and other variables. Here is an old trick you can try…
Place your hand, palms facing down, over the pan.
If you need to pull away between 2 to 4 seconds, your heat is “high.â€
If you need to pull away between 5 to 7 seconds then the heat is “mediumâ€.
If it takes 8 to 10 seconds to pull your palm away then the heat is “lowâ€.
Thanks for your reply !! 🙂
Hi Anuja & Hetal.. A very silly question here.. hope u dont mind !!! 😛
Y should we wait for the oil to heat up before adding mustard or jeera? I sometimes put oil, mustard, jeera all together and wait for it to heat up.. Am i doing something wrong? Does it change the taste of the dish all together?
Please advise !
Thanks, Anju
Hi Mehek,
Tindora which are red on the inside are too ripe to use for this recipe (the skin will also be tough). In fact, I have never seen the red ones used (but I’m sure there is some use for them out there :)). The white ones are fine to use. When picking tindora, try to pick ones that are smaller and more slender. These will be the young, tender ones.
Hi Hetal & Anuja
I have never cooked or eaten Tindora before I saw ur recipe. Wanted to try this so got some Tindora, however most of them look red from inside and the others are white. Is it ok to use it if its red or have I bought the bad ones??? Pls advise!!
ahhh! Spoken like a true Gujju :)!
I must be one of the very few Gujjus who doesn’t add sugar to anything that is not a dessert (except Gujarati Daal).
But yes, feel free to add some sugar and lime. I’m sure it will taste fabulous!
How can any gujju recipe is finished without the use of “SUGAR” 🙂 …I actually add, sugar, lemon and some coriander , this gives me perfect taste…
hahaha. very cute.
Very nice Gujju style recipe.
Thnks for the recipe. I have never tasted/tried tindora but I sure am going to try it. looks so delicious.
Hi Meena,
This recipe is Gujarati style, but your mom’s recipe sounds interesting too. Will definitely have to give it a try. Thanks.
That’s pretty different from the way I cook…btw it’s called tondakaya in Telugu..my mom cooks it by adding salt and letting the tindora cook completely…then add chilli powder and dhanya powder…cook on low fire for a couple of minutes and then add besan powder…a tsp or more and cook till the all tindora are lightly coated with besan. Hing is optional but tastes pretty yummy. I will keep this version in mind for the next time