Tindora Chutney / Dondakaya Pachadi (దొండకాయ పచ్చడి)

Andhra style chutneys, especially vegetable based ones are a norm in my kitchen. I prepare them regularly and to avoid the monotony, I keep trying different varieties. Tindora chutney is one of them, learnt from my mother. This tindora chutney perks up any boring meal and would entice all tindora lovers. If you haven't liked tindora before, try this chutney and I am sure you will fall in love with this gourd immediately. Though basically eaten with rice, this chutney would taste fabulous even with rotis and other breakfast items like dosas, upma etc. Tindora = ivy gourd/small gourd Ingredients: Tindora slices - 1 &1/2 cup (wash the tindora, trim the edges and slice crosswise into thin circles of about 1/4 cms thickness) Red Chillies - 8 (use a couple more, if more spiciness is preferred) Salt as needed 2 Tbsp tamarind puree ** For tadka - 4 tsp canola / peanut oil, 1 Tbsp Urad dal, 1 tsp mustard seeds, a pinch of fenugreek seeds, asafoetida & turmeric powder each. ** Soak about a lemon sized tamarind in water or nuke it in a microwave (of course, with half a cup of water added) for about a couple of minutes. Squeeze the tamarind using your fingers or passing through a sieve. Discard the seeds and fibre. Use the thick puree extracted as required and save the rest for later use. If using the ready made tamarind paste, the quantity mentioned above varies. The cooking part: Heat oil in a saute pan and add uraddal and mustard seeds to it. When the mustard seeds start to pop and urad dal starts turning reddish, add the fenugreek seeds, chillies, asafoetida and turmeric powder. When the fenugreek seeds also turn red, add tindora slices and stir all the ingredients of the pan once. Lower the heat, cover the lid and cook tindora till done / soften. Stir the ingredients in between. Turn off the heat and let the tindora cool. Grind the tindora coarsely adding tamarind and salt in a blender. Serve with hot rice and a little ghee. Comments