Andhra Style Dondakaya Vepudu | Kovakkai Fry | Ivygourd Stir-fry

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Dondakaya Vepudu is a delicious stir-fry made with thinly sliced Kovakkai (also called as Tindora / IvyGourd / Dondakaya) and freshly ground curry powder. It goes well with any South Indian main courses and also as an accompaniment to Roti. There are many variations in this recipe across different parts of India. This is one of the variation followed in Andhra. Kovakkai is finely chopped and cooked in low flame till it becomes crispy. Finally we toss freshly ground spice powder and roasted peanuts with the cooked Kovakkai and serve hot! I usually prefer to add the fried peanuts to make it rich.

Tips for making Kovakkai Curry

When purchasing kovakkai make sure its not very ripe. Ripe kovakkai tastes very sour.
Wash the kovakkai thoroughly before slicing or chopping. We can slice the kovakkai vertically or we can chop it like small circular pieces.
You can cook Kovakkai it in stove-top directly. Though it may take more time, we get crispier kovakka fry. Alternatively we can cook the kovakkai in pressure cooker and finally add the spice powder, tempering and peanuts.
We have used dry coconut while frying grinding ingredients. You can use fresh coconut if you don't have dry coconut.
Cook Kovakkai in low to medium flame. Keep sautéing every 5 minutes to avoid scorching at the bottom.
Cooked Kovakkai tends to shrink so add salt accordingly.

About Kovakkai (Tindora / Ivy Gourd) and its health benefits

Kovakkai, as it is known as in Tamil, is also known by different names — ivy gourd, tendli in Marathi, dondakaaya in Telugu and tindora in Hindi. It is a perennial herbaceous vine. Apart from their delightful taste, Kovakkai is a good source of nutrients, vitamins and mineral. It can decrease blood sugar levels, additionally, it helps to control our blood cholesterol. Each part of this plant offers great health benefits. The Kovakkai plant is known to improve the metabolism, reduce the blood sugar level, and prevent conditions like diabetes. It is also very good for the heart and the nervous system. Studies have even shown that it helps deal with kidney stones.

You may also want to try:

Kovakkai Curry – Kovakkai Curry is one of the quick and easy poriyal which goes very well with rice. The sliced Kovakkai are cooked with onion and basic spices.
Kovakkai Fry – Kovakkai Fry, a delicious stir-fry made with ivy gourd (tindora) and spices. This kovakkai fry goes well with any Sambar/Rasam or any variety rices.
Kovakkai Masala : Kovakkai masala is a very delicious and easy to make gravy with onion and tomato as base gravy. Goes well with Roti or any Indian breads

Recipe card for Andhra Style Dondakaya Vepudu | Kovakkai Fry | IvyGourd Stir-fry:

INSTRUCTIONS WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES:

PREPARING SPICE POWDER

Heat a pan. Add coriander seeds, split bengal gram, red chili, cumin seeds. Fry till the dal turns light golden color.

Now add dry coconut and fry till the coconut turns light brown. Switch off the flame and allow the fried ingredients to cool off.

Take the fried ingredients in a mixer jar.

Grind it to coarse powder. Set this spice powder aside.

ROASTING PEANUTS

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Add the peanuts to the pan. Roast the peanuts in low flame till they are crispy.

TEMPERING

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Then, add split urad dal and fry till the dal becomes light brown. Add few curry leaves and five a mix.