I like to think of Tindora as a miniature cucumber. You can eat it raw and tastes somewhat like cucumber, crunchy and juicy inside, with tiny seeds. While cucumber is mostly eaten raw, in salads or chutneys, tindora is cooked. You don’t find tindora in regular US grocery stores. You will find it in most Indian groceries in the US.
Growing up, I remember having tindora at least once every other week. It was either a sauté with curry powder, sauté with cumin powder or stuffed tindora. Interestingly, I started appreciating all the amazing recipes only when I got to my mid-thirties. By then I had enough of rich, spicy food.
We would eat seasonal vegetables, freshly prepared, on most occasions. My mom had the patience and the time to always cook a fresh meal. Only recently have I realized how much I have been influenced by this childhood experience. I cook fresh meals as often as I can. It is very satisfying. I realize not many people would have the time or patience to do this and that is OK.
Tindora/ Ivy Gourd
Ivy Gourd: Noxious Weed?!
I recently came across an interesting piece of information on Tindora. More commonly known as Ivy Gourd, it is considered a ‘noxious weed’ in Hawaii. I read that their department of forestry and wildlife has designated this as an ‘invasive plant’, because it grows wildly and is difficult to manage. I was really surprised by this classification of a plant that has so many medicinal benefits.
Tindora is grown for its nutritional and medicinal benefits as well as for its culinary purposes. In Ayurvedic practices in India, Tindora has been used to treat jaundice, abscesses and high blood pressure. Every part of the plant: stems, leaves and fruit, have proven benefits. Too bad, Hawaii’s natural resources department doesn’t see much value in this amazing plant.
Easy Sautéed Tindora
This recipe lives up to name. Because, it is easy! Not just easy, but delicious too. It has a very short ingredient list: just tindora, red chili powder, coriander powder (or South Indian Curry Powder), salt and oil. Tindora as I mentioned earlier, can be eaten raw, unlike some other vegetables like eggplant, okra. This means that you don’t need to cook it for too long. In fact, you can easily overcook it to a mushy texture, so you need to be mindful of how long you cook it and how much heat you use.
I end up discarding the ripe ones, though they are high in beta-carotene and Vitamin A and C. This is because they tend be very sour and end up messing with the taste. Though I’m all for health, I draw the line when it comes to taste.
Ripe Tindora
Tindora is a good source of several micro-nutrients, including Vitamin A and beta carotene. It has been shown to have hypoglycemic and antioxidant properties. It has also been used medicinally in Ayurvedic practices in India as an anti-oxidant, anti-triglyceride, and anti-bacterial.
Here are a few of our delicious sautéed veggies you might want to try:
- Carrot, Green Bean, Coconut Sauté
- Cluster Beans-Coconut-Ginger Sauté
- Broad Bean Eggplant Sauté
- Sautéed Asparagus
- Fresh Fenugreek Eggplant Sauté
- Easy Sautéed Green Beans
- Spicy Cilantro Ginger Eggplant Sauté
- Sautéed Asparagus
- Snake Gourd Coconut Sauté
- Delish Bell Pepper & Eggplant Sauté!
- Sautéed Okra
- Banana-Potato Sauté
- Spine Gourd Sauté
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Easy Sautéed Tindora
Ingredients
- 1/2 Pound Tindora - Chop ends off, and cut lengthwise
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1/2 Teaspoon Red Chili Powder - or Cayenne Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon South Indian Curry Powder - or Coriander Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt - or to taste
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil - organic, cold pressed
Instructions
- Chop both ends off and cut each tindora into 4 pieces lengthwise, wash, drain and set them in a bowl.
- Heat oil in pan on medium flame. Add mustard seeds. As they crackle, add tindora, salt, mix well.
- Set the lid on. Keep stirring and putting the lid back on for about 10 minutes until the vegetable is tender.
- Now add chili powder, South Indian Curry Powder (or coriander powder) and mix well. Sauté for a couple of minutes on low flame.
- Transfer to serving bowl.
Loved the receipe. Its so simple and quick and yet so tasty.
So thrilled to hear from you, Nisha. Thanks for the feedback. Do try our other healthy recipes. We’ve tons of them! 🙂
You wrote that ripe to Tindora are sour. How do you recognize ripe when buying fresh?
Hello Fran, great question! Always pick tindora that is dark green in color and less thicker than the others around it. The lighter the skin shade, the greater the chance that it has ripened inside. Hope this helps.