Crushed Whole Tendle (Ivy Gourd/ Gherkins/ Tondekayi) Masala Curry.

“Crushed Whole Tendle (Ivy Gourd/ Gherkins/ Tondekayi) Masala Curry” … there is nothing recipe as such for this dish but it always turns out A++ whenever tried with any masala powder available in my kitchen … one of our favorite dish served at home for meals as a side dish with dalitoy- sheetHa (rice), definitely an excellent combo … Yummilicious …

** My craze for trying out dishes randomly lands me up with surprises that always surpass my expectations and this tendle/ gherkins dish falls in that category. I always try this dry masala side dish to be served with dalitoy- rice and each time I have added whichever curry masala powder available at home and it always turns out aromatic and delicious. I never bothered to blog this recipe before as I felt there is nothing much to mention about it as such and that almost everybody tried out such methods at home. But then when my friend who tasted it, she insisted I blog it for two reasons, firstly it was very tasty and the other being it was a time saver, you could just not go wrong here.

** Well, that was it, I clicked a picture, but somehow, I was still reluctant to blog it, so just put it into my to do list folder and completely forgot about it for over 6 months now. It was when my friend who called, to ask me the link of the recipe as she could not find it when searched that I sheepishly admitted I had not blogged it. She was totally upset and felt that I did not trust her judgment on this recipe. It took me a lot to convince her that, it was not the case, but that I still felt there was nothing much to write about it. Well, she said there was, as she herself had forgotten the exact method which I had told her that very day, it was always helpful and that is exactly what I should do too.

** Well, you can't refuse your trusted friend, here it is, I am sharing that simple recipe which I hope will be helpful to working women as this is neither laborious nor difficult as almost all ingredients are always available in kitchen. Here I have used Malvani Masala Powder which is easily available in stores, however if not you can use any flavored masala powder like that of chole, pav bhaji etc. available in your kitchen. However, I would definitely suggest that you purchase Malvani masala powder if possible as it falls in handy in preparation of many dishes, I myself always keep a stock of it and have shared many recipes using this masala powder which is store bought.

** Here is my own recipe for “Crushed Whole Tendle (Ivy Gourd/ Gherkins/ Tondekayi) Masala Curry” … my style that can be relished with dal-chawal ….

** Ingredients :

Tendle/ Ivy Gourd/ Gherkins/ Tondekayi : 25-30 small sized.

Salt/ Namak/ Meeta to taste

** For the Masala :

Malvani Masala Powder : 2-3 tblsp

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder or any other less spicy chilly powder : 1 tblsp

Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : one cup.

Garlic/ Losun/ Lehsun : 2-3 (Optional)

Tamarind/ Chinchama/ Imly : 1 tsp or small marble sized

** For Tempering/ Seasoning/ Pannaka/ Tadka :

Oil/ Tel/ Tela : 2 tsp

Mustard Seeds/ Rai/ Sasam : 1 tsp

Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 8-10 fresh ones

Haldi/ Turmeric Powder : a large pinch

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : ½ tsp

Tendle/ Ivy Gourd/ Gherkins/ Tondekayi

** Wash the tendle/ gherkins and wipe dry or drain off the water completely. Slice off both side portions thinly and then with a heavy weight or stone crush each tendle slightly retaining them whole as much as possible while doing so.

** Note : The process here is similar to tendle daddanu talasani prepared in GSB Konkani Saraswat home. In case you do not want to follow this method, then no issues you can just cut each tendle lengthwise into 4 pieces and prepare the same too.

** Apply salt all over the crushed tendle and rest covered for 10 minutes. Then put them into a pressure cooker pan with about ½ to 1 cup of water and pressure cook on medium heat to one whistle only. Let the pressure in the cooker fall on its own and when able to open the lid do so, check if cooked and then keep this aside ready.

** For preparing the masala : Add coconut, garlic, tamarind, chilly powder, malvani masala powder into a mixer grinder and grind to semi coarse masala with just a little bit of water. Do not use more water and do not make it fine. You can use the tendle cooked water here for grinding which is what I do. Remove and keep this aside ready.

** Note : If you do not want to add garlic for any reason, you can skip it. However just add a little bit of hing/ asafoetida powder into the seasoning along with haldi- chilly powder and it tastes great too, I follow it during fasting days. 

** Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot add in the mustard seeds, when they begin to crackle add curry leaves, haldi powder, chilly powder and fry for a few seconds. Add the ground masala, mix well and fry for a minute or two on low heat. Finally add the pressure cooked crushed tendle/ gherkins along with remaining water if any, mix well, cover and let cook on low heat for 5-8 minutes.

** The texture of this curry is semi dry, ie it should remain thick and just coating the tendle, as shown in picture, so if there is excess water do not use, the very same reason why you should grind as well as cook with minimum water. Keep stirring in between to avoid masala being burnt, also check salt and add if necessary. When done remove from fire, cover and keep it aside some time for the curry to settle down.

** “Crushed Whole Tendle (Ivy Gourd/ Gherkins/ Tondekayi) Masala Curry” is done and ready to be served. In my home we love this simple side dish with dalitoy (spiced tuvar dal) and sheetHa (rice) along with some roasted papad, that’s it, just a soul satisfying meal for us. Off course, you can serve it with paratha, roti or dosas too, if desired, as there are many whose staple diet is roti, sure to taste great. However in my opinion, being a dry side dish it does go well with rice served during lunchtimes.

** Do try this dish out, if you love tondli/ gherkins dished like us and enjoy with your family and friends. Children resist eating home cooked dishes initially, but if you make a habit of it, soon they learn to accept the same and begin to enjoy them in the long run. Tendle is available all round the year throughout India and elsewhere countries too, do try this out, it’s easy, tasty and sure to be loved by all, remember you can add any masala curry powder here and it goes well, just adjust the spices accordingly.