Dondakaya Ullipaya Vepudu ~ Ivy Gourd Stir Fry With Onions

Dondakaya( Tendli ) / Ivy Gourd used to be my favorite veggie when i was kid. There are various variations of cooking Tindora( dondakaya ). You can make deep fried version, saute( stir fry), dondakaya pachadi( chutney ), raw tindora chutney, dondakaya pulusu, dondakaya ullipaya karam, dondakaya with tomato curry, etc., Of all these recipes i like to cook Tindora stir fry, as this takes less oil than deep fried version. As a kid we never had any deep fried veggies except for Potato( once in a blue moon ). For us any vegetable fry means saute or stir fry. I know for some when they mean fry, they literally deep fry veggies like fritters( vadiyalu, appadalu ). And of course fried veggies taste so good, but they are not good for heart though!! Mom makes this simple spicy Dondakaya Stir fry with onions and then spice it up with this garlic chilli powder. This fry tastes so good you can finish the whole bowl as is without any rice..

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound fresh Ivy Gourd( dondakaya )
• 1 onion
• 4-5 tbsp oil( more for even crispier )
• curry leaves
• Red chilli garlic powder to taste
• Salt to taste

How to:

• Wash dondakaya / ivy gourd thoroughly and then you can either julienne them or cut dondakaya in discs / rounds.
• In a thick kadai/saute pan heat oil, once heated add curry leaves
• Now add chopped dondakaya / ivy gourd add cook under medium heat with covered lid.
• Keep stirring in between and once tindora changes color, becomes half cooked add onion and salt, remove the lid and cook under high heat stirring frequently.
• Make sure you do not burn tindora. If you want tindora to be even crispier add little more oil and fry it a little longer.
• Once tindora is cooked to perfection, add this garlic chilli powder and adjust to taste.

Serve this Ivy gourd stir fry with steaming hot rice or as a side for chapathis/rotis. Make sure you get firm, tender ivy gourds for this fry, as mature ones donot taste good and are very tough.

P.S. Everyone has a unique taste palette, so please adjust the ingredients according to your taste.