This Tindora Masala Recipe uses the Ivy-Gourd, or Tindora, in a dish that pairs the spice palate of India with a Chinese cookery technique.
By the way, I have already published an introductory post on Tindora, or the Ivy-Gourd. If you are not familiar with this interesting ingredient, you may wish to take a look.
Ingredient Notes
For this recipe, I used my own Homemade Madras Curry Paste, but you can use any commercial, or homemade paste you like.
Also, you can use as many chillies you like for this dish, and of whatever type that suits your heat tolerance. The ones you see above are moderately hot, but he main idea here is to scorch the chilies in oil as this will give the special flavor that is unique to the proper Chinese version of ‘Kung Pao’ dishes.
The Method
My method for cooking this dish is basically as follows…. I heated the vegetable oil to the smoking point, tossed in the seeds and the chili, the peanuts a few seconds later, and stirred everything rapidly for a few more seconds before adding the Tindora. I stir-fried the Tindora until it turned a nice bright green and then added the additional water to create a bit of steam. Once the water had evaporated, I added the paste mixture, tossed everything to coat, and then plated it.
I am sorry I could not include a picture of the cooking but the process was far too quick to allow that. The preparation took a total of fifteen minutes, including arranging the ingredients and photographing them, whilst the actual cooking took no more than a minute and a half, or so.
Your Recipe Card:
Tindora Masala Recipe
Ingredients
- 15 medium Tindora slice in quarters lengthwise
- ½ tsp. Curry Paste of choice
- 6 -8 Dried Red Chili Peppers
- 1 tsp. Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp. Black Mustard Seeds
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
Instructions
- Blend the Curry Paste with 2 Tbsp. of Water and set aside.
- Heat the Vegetable to smoking point and toss in the seeds and chillies, followed by the peanuts. Stir fry just until the chillies begin to darken.
- Add in the Tindora, and, when it turns a nice bright green, splash in a little water to make some steam and cook for a minute or so until they are tender.
- Add in the Curry Paste mixture and fry until reduced to a glaze.
- Serve while hot.