Gourds in general are often under appreciated and possibly even unknown in some parts of the world. Off late I have been introducing many recipes using different gourds in my blog. Today I’m going to share a simple Ivy Gourd Stir Fry with a twist. This recipe doesn’t require any fancy ingredients and cooking with Ivy Gourds is always fun as it’s one of versatile vegetables that compliments many aromatic spices used in cooking it. I love the crunchy texture of this veggie. It’s everyones favourite at home, which makes it easy for me 
.
You can cut the ivy gourds into discs or length-wise. I think the shape you cut does change the texture of the dish. The discs cook faster, evenly and are crisp. When cut length-wise I think the chances of thicker pieces are more and you can feel the crunch of the vegetable while eating. I usually like to cut it lengthwise as I like the crunchy texture. You must be wondering what the twist is?…
I’m going to use garlic chilli powder instead of regular chilli powder, which takes this dish to the next level with the garlicky flavour.
This delicious bowl of crunchy and spicy Ivy gourd stir-fry jazzes up any boring meal. The best way is to serve with hot rice, dollop of ghee and a bowl of Rasam, Sambar or Pappucharu. It tastes magical. You must be wondering why I am hyping up this combination? If you are a South Indian, you will understand what I’m talking about. You can also get a little creative and use it as a stuffing for sandwiches or wraps with some salad and sour cream or cheese. Now let’s quickly move on to the recipe…..
Off to Ivy Gourd Stir Fry recipe!!
Step-by-Step Process in making Ivy Gourd Stir Fry:
Click below to watch Video to prepare Ivy Gourd Stir Fry….Continue reading for stepwise pictorial recipe!!
Dondakaya Fry Andhra Style – Tindora fry Video
Let’s start the process:
- Wash tender ivy gourds and trim both the ends.
- Chop them lengthwise or as discs, however you prefer to.
- Slice onions lengthwise and set aside.
- Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium heat.
- Season it with the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies broken into 2 halves.
- Once the mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves.
- Now add ivy gourd pieces, a little turmeric powder and required salt. Mix well.
- Close the lid and cook, stirring occasionally.
- Once the ivy gourd pieces start to turn slightly brown, add onions. It may take about 5 to 8 minutes.
- Sauté till the onions turn brown for about 5 minutes.
- In the mean time prepare garlic chilli powder.
- For this take all the ingredients under the section “For garlic chilli powder “ in an electric blender and grind for a minute to a coarse powder.
- Use this powder in the next step.
- Now add 1 teaspoon of garlic chilli powder prepared in the above step and few more curry leaves (optional) to the fry and stir. Adjust salt if required.
- Continue to fry for another 5 to 8 minutes or until the desired crispiness is reached.
- Turn off the heat and serve with roti, paratha or you can enjoy it with rice and Sambar or Rasam with a dollop of ghee. If you scroll down below you can see Ivy gourd chutney between the two bowls of stir fry, which I will be sharing very soon. Do come back for the recipe !!
A Quick Summary:
Ivy Gourd Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 2 dry red chillies broken into 2 halves
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 250 grams tender Ivy gourd wash, trim ends and cut into lengthwise strips
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- Required salt
- 1 onion sliced lengthwise
- A sprig of curry leaves
For garlic chilli Powder:
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 3 to 4 garlic pods with peel
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Instructions
- Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium heat.
- Season with mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies.
- Once the mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves.
- Now add ivy gourd pieces, turmeric powder and required salt. Mix well.
- Close the lid and cook, stirring occasionally.
- Once the ivy gourd pieces turn slightly brown, add onions. It may take about 5 to 8 minutes.
- Sauté till the onions turn brown for about 5 minutes.
- In the mean time prepare garlic chilli powder.
- For this take all the ingredients under the section “For the garlic chilli powder “ in an electric blender and grind for a minute to a coarse powder. Use this powder in the next step.
- Now add 1 teaspoon of the garlic chilli powder prepared in the above step to the fry and stir for another 5 minutes or until the desired crispiness is reached.
- Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving bowl.
My Notes:
- Feel free to adjust spice levels to suit your taste.
- Fry ivy gourd over low-to-medium heat.
- You can also use regular chilli powder if you do not like garlic.
- You can also make the same recipe without onions.
- Increase the quantity oil if you want it to fry faster.
- Curry leaves and all spices are all personal choices, increase or decrease to suit your requirement.
- I usually prepare the garlic chilli powder in advance. So if you are going to just make it for this recipe, you can also just crush garlic and cumin and add.
You might also like to see other popular vegetable stir fries in my blog- Potato fry, Stuffed Okra, Arbi fry, Eggplant stir fry, Capsicum masala fry, Okra stir fry, Bitter gourd stir fry and many more to come!!…..Stay Tuned!!
Happy Cooking 🙂
Padma
