Numerous Tondekai (Ivy Gourd) creepers swayed in the gentle breeze from a fence which separated a narrow path which ran along our compound wall and the mango trees at the bottom of our garden. The abundant fruits which they produced were left to the birds which flocked our garden, and to us, their only competitors. We munched away the small watery vegetables as we played hide and seek or marakoti in the garden. The ones which escaped our attention, ripened into blood red coloured fruits, full of juice.
Tamil poets down the centuries, up to the modern ones have used this fruit – the kovai pazam – as a simile to describe the full red lips of the Nayakis or the heroines.
In those days, as a new bride, I was surprised to see my mother- in - law buy this vegetable along with the other vegetables in the market. I was even more surprised when I tasted them in our usual sambar and curry. After all it was delicious.
Recently I happened to read in the newspaper about the role played by this vegetable in controlling the blood sugar level in diabetics. The very next day the price of this vegetable soared up to new heights!!
INGREDIENTS:
Tondekai (Ivy Gourd) – 500 gms.
Cooking oil – 2 tbsps
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Sambar powder – 1 ½ tsp (Refer to podis)
Salt – 11/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
METHOD:
1. Wash and cut the tondekai lengthwise into thin slivers, or slice them into roundels.
2. Heat oil in a pan, and add the mustard seeds.
3. When the seeds splutter, add curry leaves and the tondekai.
4. Add sambar powder and salt and blend well.
5. Cover with a lid and cook over low flame, the vegetables releases enough water to cook it its own steam.
6. Keep opening the lid now and then to turn over the vegetable with a spatula.
7. When it is completely cooked, remove the lid and sauté for some more time till it gets roasted to an almost crisp texture.
Enjoy the crunchy crispy and spicy tondekai curry with rice or rotis.
For those who are diabetic, or simply health conscious, here is a method that’s uses just ½ tsp of oil! The ingredients are the same, except that amount of oil used is negligible!
METHOD 2
1. Cook the tondekai in a pressure cooker. The water in the bottom of the pressure cooker is enough, and just a sprinkle in the vessel containing the tondaikai will do. Do not add more water, as you want the tondekai as dry a possible.
2.Next take ½ tsp oil and fry mustard seeds and curry leaves. Watch out, as it burns very quickly!
3. When the seasoning sputters, add the cooked tondekai, sambar powder and salt, and sautee for few minutes, till the raw flavours of sambar powder disappear. Its now ready to serve!
By using a pressure cooker, besides preserving nutrients, you will also save a lot of time in cooking the tondekai.
This post goes to Sangeeth’s Eat Healthy Fight Diabetes event. You can read more details on how tondekai helps in controlling diabetes here.
Funny :-)>> I was googling away for the English name for Tondekai, when I discovered that Australia considers this a weed, and has even issued alerts! The main reason is that this grows abundantly, smothering other vegetation!
