Thursday 10 June 2010

Kovakkai oorugai / Dondakaya pachadi / Tindora or Indian ivy-gourd pickle


One more invention in my culinary journey :). It all started just yesterday.  I was looking in the fridge and found few kovakkai. They were very less for making a dish. I donno what to do with them. Then I thought of pickling them. I am seeing many of my blogger friends preparing nice pickles and I wanted to make one too. Kovakkai is very crispy, delicious to eat even when it is raw and it doesn't have any strong smell or taste. The only thing it lacks for making a delicious pickle is the sour taste. But it doesn't matter because lemon juice could do the magic. Thus started the idea of pickling kovakkai and you won't beleive, it turned out to be a very yummy and crispy pickle.  I have finished half of the pickle just by eating them like a salad. 

The crispiness of kovakkai is the highlight of this pickle. Even raw mango looses its crispiness when pickled but kovakkai remained very crispy and fresh in the lemon juice, mustard-fenugreek powder gravy. Friends, do try it. You will definitely love it. The preparation is also very, very easy. The below picture is taken immediately after making the pickle and the second picture is taken today morning. You can see that the kovakkai have shrunken in size and totally immersed in the gravy.



Ingredients :

Kovakkai / Tindora- 12 nos
Mustard- 1 tspn
Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tspn
Lemon- 2 nos (medium sized)
Garlic- 5 pods (thinly sliced)
Green chillies- 4 nos (slit longitudinally)
Chilli powder- 1 tbspn ( or as per your taste)
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Asafoetida powder- few pinches
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tspn
Curry leaves- 10 leaflets
Oil- 4 tbsons
Salt to taste




Method :

Cut kovakkai as shown in picture. Slice the garlic pods. Squeeze the lemons and take out the juice. Fry mustard and fenugreek seeds in a pan until the fenugreek turns brown in colour. Now dry grind the fried mustard and fenugreek into a coarse powder. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil gets heated add mustard seeds. When they splutter add the curry leaves and garlic pieces. Saute well until the garlic browns. Now switch off the stove and to the hot oil add chilli powder, mustard-fenugreek powder, turmeric and asafoetida powder. Saute for a few seconds. Take care not to burn them. In the mean time add the squeezed lemon juice and enough salt to the kovakkai and slit green chilli pieces. Now transfer the entire hot temepered mixture to the bowl containing kovakkai. A very tasty pickle which goes very well with curd rice will be ready.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Select only the kovakkai which are very firm and crispy. When tempering take care not to burn any ingredient. Wait for a day (if you can) before using the pickle. I have used only 12 kovakkai. If you use more adjust the ingredients according to your requirement.  Use green chillies along with kovakkai for that nice, green chilli smell. Green chilli adds a lot of flavour. Salt, oil and chilli powder should be used leniently to keep them preserved. I think they will stay  for a few weeks if you keep them refrigerated. Happy cooking !!!

28 comments:

  1. pickle using ivygourd is something new and different but looks too good...love pickles with rice

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  2. Wow very innovative pickles..never thought of it!! Amazing recipe and click!!
    Wount watring:)

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  3. WOW...pickle of tendali...mm..never had this before...very unique recipe..looks so tempting...yum!

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  4. darling the tindora pickle looks breathtaking...early morning u made me droooooool

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  5. வித்தியாசமான ரெசிபி..பார்க்கவே உடனே செய்து சாப்பிடத்தோனுது...

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  6. Manju,

    New innovative pickle. I like it.

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  7. This is new to me but looks perfect, thanks for sharing dear...

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  8. Very new recipe for me, looks great !!! I always love your "taste enhancing tips" :)

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  9. Unique recipe..never tried kovakkai pickle, looks great..will try this, thanks dear.

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  10. மிகவும் அருமையாக் இருக்கின்றது...சூப்பப்ர்...

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  11. Slurppp!!such a spicy pickle tempts me a lot..Thanks for sharing..

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  12. Pickle with kovakai, new to new.. very innovative pickle, thanks for sharing..

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  13. Ahaa..Brilliant idea!! I am a huge fan of pickles so I would definitely want to try this innovative kovakka pickle. Bookmarked!! By the way I made your oyster mushroom kuzhambu again for my friends yesterday and they all loved it a lot. Thanks again :)

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  14. Wow! Manju very nice pickle, i think it'll taste delicious with thayir sadam.

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  15. Never heard of this pickle. Looks great and inviting.

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  16. somrthing new to me. looks so nice

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  17. Wow!! thats a nice creation.....hope you enjoyed the other half pickles today.

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  18. appaaadi! uurukaayai paathundey 2 plat thayirsaatham saappadlaam poolarukey!!!...;) good job manju akka!

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  19. You have a very homely place here with lots of everyday recipes!..Love your space, Manju!
    Keep up your great work!

    Love the way you shoot buds and flowers with the blurred background !!:)

    ..You Rock!..

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  20. First time in ur blog.... U have a very nice place for ur food....Pickel is looking so good. Nice and mouthwatering....

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  21. Never tasted Kovakkai Pickle. Very Innovative recipe and do always love the homemade pickle.

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  22. Thank you friends for your constant love and encouragement. Thank you yummy team for ur kind feed back.

    Welcome Gouri and Bharathy !!!

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  23. wow....pachadi looks amazing!! great pics too...

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