Free Imagine Things

hai,
Here I come with a Rice variety. This vegetable is called Tondekaayi/Kovakkai/Dondekaayi/Tindora, This vegetable looks more like a midget cucumber nice to taste, some people eat them raw when they are very tender, It is called Coccinia Grandis and belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae, It has a good source of several micronutrients including Vitamin A & C (information: wikipedia)


















Select nice tender ones wash & cut them into 1/2'' pieces
Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg Tondekaayi/Tindora
• 2 tbsp of thick Tamarind Extract
• 5-6 tbsp oil
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• Tamarind - size of gooseberry or lime
• 1/2 copra or dry coconut or kobbari
• cashewnuts (optional)
• salt to taste

Grind together

• 2 tbsp chana dhal
• 2 tbsp urad dhal
• 3 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 pinch of hing/asafoetida
• 5-5 red chillies (guntur-badgi)
• 1'' cinnamon sticks
• 1 marati moggu
• 1tsp turmeric powder
• 2 to 3 cloves

seasonings:

• 1tsp mustard seeds
• 1tbsp chana dhal
• 1tbsp urad dhal

METHOD:

1. Roast the above ingredients with a tsp of oil, you can roast them saperately for much better taste or fry them together and when cool, dry them into a coarse powder. In the last round when grinding add the gratings of copra and grind again.
2. Take a kadai/wok/pan, add oil, put the seasonings, pinch of turmeric, then add the cut vegetables and curry leaves mix them up and allow them to cook until soft by adding little water now and then. (I do not use too much oil when I make my dishes even though i know they will taste their best, so i always cook dry curries like this with adding water now & then cook them until soft and nice),
3. Tondekaayi is really difficult to cook till soft, you can cook them in pressure cooker with less water and add them to the kadai then drain out the water and add them to the seasonings and continue as given below.
4. If you are cooking directly, you have to keep note that their should no water left in the kadai once they are all cooked then add salt to taste & then tamarind extract and allow it for 5 more minutes and then the ground powder, mix well and leave it for few more minutes. and now it is ready to mix it with rice and serve it as a Tondekaayi bath or a side dish with rice & rasam.
5. You can use lemon juice in place of tamarind but add them in the end of the dish.

you can fry some cahews & some curry leaves at the end for decorating.