Tindora moongfali and Turai Chilka dal

Tindora or Kanduri or Dondakaaya or Ivygourd is one of those vegetables which takes forever to cut and prepare for cooking. Ofcourse there is the frozen Tindora but it doesn't even come close in the yummy taste to the fresh Ivygourd cut. And again there are two ways of cuttin it. Into round circles or into vertical julienne cut. My mom was a firm believer in the later and so am I. This fry I made today is the most simple and the most delicious one

              To go with this dry curry and rice I made Dal with Turai or Beerakaaya or Peerkaay or Ridgegourd peel.

Tindora Moongfali Tallan (Ivy Gourd Shallow Fried with ground peanuts)

Dondakaaya Fry

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-3/4 lb Ivy gourd ends cut and julienned into about 6-8 pieces
2. 3 tablespoons oil
3. 1/2-3/4 each of teaspoon salt. chilly powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
5. 2 tablespoons peanut powder (recipe follows)
6. 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Ingredients for peanut powder*:

1. 1/2 cup peanuts dry roasted
2. 1 tablespoons sesame seeds dry roasted
3. 1 teaspoon cumin dry roasted

Grind all the ingredients for peanut powder and set aside

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin for 3 minutes. Add the Ivygourd cover and fry for 10-15 minutes. Add the spices and the peanut powder stir to combine, and continue to fry without cover for 5 more minutes. garnish with Cilantro and enjoy

*The peanut powder can be made into a big batch and stored in a air tight container in the refridgerator can used when needed. It gives amazing taste to any fry

Turai Chilka Dal (Ridge gourd peel with lentils in Tamarind juice)

Beerakaaya tokku Pappu

Ingredients:

1. Peel about 2 medium sized ridge gourds (discard the hard peel) save the rest
2. 1 cup toor dal dry roasted
3. 3 cups juice from a small lemon sized tamarind
4. 1 tablespoons oil
5. 1 garlic chopped fine
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric
7. 3 dried red chillies broken
8. few curry leaves
9. 1 teaspoon salt

Chop the ridge gourd peel roughly and wash well. In a pressure cooker cook the dal with the peel and turai and 2 cups of water for 4-5 whistles. Let it cool and grind to a fine paste. In a pan heat the oil and add cumin and mustard seeds and dried red chillies and curry leaves for 3 minutes. Add garlic and fry for a couple of more minutes. Add the ground dal and all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 10 minutes. Serve

Also try Ridge gourd peel chutney