Dondakaya Veppudu - Simple way

I am a very picky eater to this day, but a lot less choosy now when compared to my younger days. Main reason being then my mother used to cook and now I have to cook :). I first saw my cousin cooking the dondakaya/tindora this way. She patiently kept frying till they were well done. My mother must have also made this but I started liking it the way my cousin made :).

Ingredients

Dondakaya/Tindora

Curry leaves/ Karvepaku

Salt

Red chilly powder

Turmeric powder

Process

1. Wash the dondakaya. Chop off the ends and thinly slice them as shown below.

2. Next step is to start frying. I generally cook the dondakaya in microwave for sometime to cut back on frying time. So I add some oil to the dondakaya and put it in microwave for 10 -15 mins.
3. Heat a frying pan. Add some oil, when it is hot add the curry leaves. Then add the sliced dondakaya. Fry for sometime and turn over after sometime
4. When they start to get translucent, add the salt, red chilly powder and turmeric powder. Mix well.

5. Once all the spices are mixed and the dondakaya has become soft, its cooked. You can stop here but I continue frying, so that a slight charand crispy texture appears on some of them. Becareful not to burn them while doing so. Once done garnish with chopped coriander.

ChanagaPappu vesina Dondakaya Vepudu

Its a tindora (dondakaya) with chana daal. Yet another recipes that I have taken from my mother's cooking. What I like in this recipe is the chana daal, so in my version I use more chana daal when compared to my mother's. Though I don't use measurements, I am trying my best to provide them as best as I can. So do feel free to make changes according to your taste and mood :)

Ingredients

Tindora/ Dondakaya - 4 cups

Chana daal - 1 1/2 cup

Salt

Red chilly powder

Turmeric powder

Karvepaku or curry leaves - 4 to 5

Process

1. Prepping tindora - cut the ends of each tindora and then length wise into 4 pieces.

2. Prepping chana daal - wash them and then boil them till become soft enough to bite through.
3. Heat a pan and put some oil in it. When oil is hot enough add the curry leaves, fry for sometime and then add the cut tindora. Fry them till they become soft.

4. When tindora are cooked or soft enough, add salt, red chilly powder and turmeric powder according to your taste. Mix well and fry for sometime.
5. Now add the chana daal and mix well so that they are coated with spices. Fry well. Since the chana daal have been pre-cooked, you don't have to worry about it being undercooked. Just make sure the tindora are cooked well.

Hope you enjoy :)