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 

Urad dal Kanduri fry with Pyaz ka khatta

I had all these errands to do and a whole lot of shopping to do as my supplies were running low. So, I was out pretty much the whole day and by the time I came back home, and hauled everything into the house from the car and put everything where it belongs, I was super tired
              But you know, a women's work is never done. I still had to make dinner. So I made the fastest dishes possible. And also great tasting...half because I was so very hungry
             On days like this, I always wish I had some help and help comes in the form of pre-cut frozen vegetables

In case you are wondering what Kanuri is here are pictures of Kanduri or Tindora etc

Urad Dal Kanduri fry (Ivy gourd fried with black lentils)

Urad Dal Tindora fry

Ingredients :

1. 1/4 cup black whole or halfed urad dal soaked overnight (I had them cause I was planning to make Dal Makhani)
2. 1 package pre-cut frozen Tindora thawed (or 1lb fresh Tindora washed, ends cut an sliced vertically into 6-8 pieces)
3. 2-3 tablespoons oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, cumin
5. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

In a non-stick pan heat the oil and fry the cumin for 3 minutes. Add drained urad dal and fry for 5 minutes. Add drained tindora and fry covered (15 minutes if using fresh) 10 minutes without covering, stirring occasionally. Add salt, chilly powder an turmeric and stir to combine and fry for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with Pyaz ka khatta

Pyaz ka Khatta (Onions cooked in Tamarind juice)

Pyaz ka khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup chopped red onions
2. 2-3 cups of juice from tamarind the size of a small lemon
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. 1 green chilly chopped
5. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon each of chilly powder, turmeric

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes. Add all the other ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Until Oil floats. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with plain rice