Dondakaya Kobbari Vepudu – Andhra special Ivy Gourd Coconut Curry or stir-fry prepared with fresh ground coconut coriander masala.
Ivy Gourd Coconut Curry or Dondakaya Kobbari Vepudu
If you ask me my favorite vegetable, without any hesitation, I would say brinjal. Next, to brinjal, my other two favorites are Ivy Gourd and Cabbage. Today’s recipe is a flavorful dry curry prepared with Ivy gourd. It is also known as Coccinia or Scarlet gourd. It is popularly known as Tindora in Hindi, Kovaikai in Tamil and Dondakaya in Telugu. Today I am going to share an Andhra special recipe – Dondakaya Kobbari Vepudu – Ivy gourd coconut dry curry with fresh ground masala.
Before getting into the recipes, I would like to thank my mom for introducing me all the vegetables. I think I would have mentioned this in my blog before. It’s an unwritten rule in our house that no matter what, we need to eat the first serving of the vegetable that is prepared. If we like it, my mom would be more than happy to share her portion too and if we don’t like, my mom doesn’t force after the first serving.
But at the same time, she takes the effort to prepare the least preferred veggies to our likings the next time. That helped me to get acquired in nearly all the veggies, and I am trying to follow the same rule in our household too. Somedays it works and some days, it doesn’t. But I keep trying. :-)
Now coming back to the recipe, Ivy gourd is our family favorite. I prepare it quite often. Even though I have tried Ivy gourd recipes from other cuisines, except for the dry curry and chutney, I haven’t posted the other recipes in my space. Now it’s high time; I need to start posting my other favorite tindora recipes. So I am starting with my favorite Ivy gourd coconut dry curry. This is not any secret recipe, and the moment you type the recipe name, Google lines up with zillion recipes.
But a couple of years ago when I was looking for a no onion no garlic recipe, I stumbled upon this FB page and found the recipe from there. I liked the fresh ground masala used, and from then on, this has become a staple in our household. I use the same masala for other dry curries too. It’s such a versatile spice mix. So without any further ado, here is the no onion no garlic Vepudu. The printable recipe is at the bottom. :-)
Ivy Gourd Coconut Curry or Dondakaya Kobbari Vepudu Recipe
Ingredients:
- Chopped Ivygourd – approx 4 cups
- Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
- Water – 1 tbsp
For the masala:
- Red Chilli – 3
- Jeera – 1 tsp
- Coriander Seeds – 1.5 tsps
- Grated coconut – ⅓ cup
For tempering:
- Oil – 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
- Urad dal – ½ tsp
- Hing – ¼ tsp
- Curry leaves – 6 to 7 leaves
Prep-Work:
- Chop the ivy gourd either lengthwise or into small rounds. I went with rounds this time.
- Grate the required amount of coconut or if using frozen, thaw it and make sure it’s at room temperature.
Preparing the Dry Masala:
- Heat the kadai and once its hot add the red chili, jeera and coriander seeds and dry roast until the aroma comes out.
- Finally, add the grated coconut and roast until the coconut browns up.
- Let it cool and grind into a coarse powder.
Steps:
- Heat the kadai or pan and add 1 tbsp of oil.
- Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, urad dal, hing and curry leaves.
- Let it fry for a minute and as the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the chopped ivy gourd, salt, and turmeric.
- Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of water and mix well and cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the ivy gourd is soft and tender. Make sure you mix it once for every 2 minutes.
- Now remove the lid and let it cool until all the moisture is evaporated.
- Finally, add the spice powder and mix well.
- At this stage, if required add more oil if not let it cook for a couple of minutes and turn off the heat.
- That’s it. Dondakaya Vepudu is ready.
Notes:
- Instead of grated coconut, fresh coconut pieces (3 or 4) can be used too.
- I prepared this as no onion no garlic version. But after tempering, you can add garlic and onion and sauté them until translucent and then add the ivy gourd. Make sure you adjust the salt and spices accordingly.
- Adjust the salt and red chilies as per your preference.
- I used byadagi red chilies for this recipe. So adjust the red chilies depending upon the variety.
📖 Recipe
Dondakaya Kobbari Vepudu | Ivy Gourd Coconut Curry
Ingredients
- 4 cups Chopped Ivygourd
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tbsp Water
For the masala
- 3 Red Chilli
- 1 tsp Jeera
- 1.5 tsps Coriander Seeds
- ⅓ cup Grated coconut
For tempering
- 2 tbsp Oil
- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- ½ tsp Urad dal
- ¼ tsp Hing
- 6 to 7 Curry leaves
Instructions
- Chop the ivy gourd either lengthwise or into small rounds. I went with rounds this time.
- Grate the required amount of coconut or if using frozen, thaw it and make sure it's at room temperature.
- Heat the kadai and once its hot add the red chili, jeera and coriander seeds and dry roast until the aroma comes out.
- Finally, add the grated coconut and roast until the coconut browns up.
- Let it cool and grind into a coarse powder.
- Heat the kadai or pan and add 1 tbsp of oil.
- Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, urad dal, hing and curry leaves.
- Let it fry for a minute and as the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the chopped ivy gourd, salt, and turmeric.
- Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of water and mix well and cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the ivy gourd is soft and tender. Make sure you mix it once for every 2 minutes.
- Now remove the lid and let it cool until all the moisture is evaporated.
- Finally, add the spice powder and mix well.
- At this stage, if required add more oil if not let it cook for a couple of minutes and turn off the heat.
- That’s it. Dondakaya Vepudu is ready.
Notes
- Instead of grated coconut, fresh coconut pieces (3 or 4) can be used too.
- I prepared this as no onion no garlic version. But after tempering, you can add garlic and onion and sauté them until translucent and then add the ivy gourd. Make sure you adjust the salt and spices accordingly.
- Adjust the salt and red chilies as per your preference.
- I used byadagi red chilies for this recipe. So adjust the red chilies depending upon the variety.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Ivy Gourd Coconut Curry or stir-fry prepared with fresh ground coconut coriander masala. #indiancuisine #andhrafood #tindoracurry #coconutcurry #ivygourd | VidhyasHomeCooking.com”>
yummy ivy gourd curry!! love the flavours and the masala!!
Thanks Sundari.
Looks yummy
Thanks Lathi.