dahi wale achari tindey and another quick recipe of tinda...

Dahi wale tindey or achari tindey as we call this curry, loved by both of us when cooked using baby tindey. What? You can't figure out what tindey is?

Tinda (pl. Tindey) is a gourd family vegetable which can be called an Indian summer squash as it comes in summers along with sponge gourds and ridge gourds. Called Apple gourd in English, it is shaped like apples, but the similarity ends here. This is one of those watery vegetables that gets squishy when cooked and most people dislike it for precisely this reason. If made into a hot spicy curry some people like it but we don't like much spices in summers so I go for a lentil based curry or a yogurt based curry for cooking this squash.

The squishy texture is taken care of if you cook it with firm lentils like chane ki daal (split chickpeas) or green peas. This recipe is simple, just boil some chane ki daal with salt and turmeric powder till done but not pasty. Stir fry some chopped red onions in ghee along with cumin seeds, add cubed tindey and tomatoes and stir fry till slightly mushy. Add minced ginger and chilly powder or chopped green chilies, a little bit of garam masala and mix everything well. Add this mixture to the cooked chane ki daal and simmer for a couple of minutes. Keep the consistency thicker than usual daals and have it like a subzi side dish. It can make a meal too if you add a few cubes of paneer to it.

But the achari tindey or dahi wale tindey is a recipe that requires a bit of accuracy in cooking procedure. Firstly, you need baby tindas for this, secondly they need to be cooked just till they get a bit translucent but retain a bite. Not making it completely mush. It takes about 15 minutes to cook if you are doing 2-4 servings, but take care about the serving size as folks will be helping themselves 2-3 times with this flavorful curry. The consistency of the curry here is laga lipta type as we say in Hindi. That means a coating consistency of the gravy.

ingredients...
(for 2 large servings)

baby tindas (apple gourds) 300 gmm
yogurt 1 cup
one small red onion about 60-70 gm weight
minced ginger 2 tsp or to taste
ginger powder 1/2 tsp (optional)
red chilly powder 1/2 tsp or to taste
yellow mustard powder 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
chopped green chilies for garnish, you can add chopped coriander greens too
mustard oil 1 tbsp or a little bit more

spices to coarsely pound.. (achari spices)
cumin 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp
fennel seeds 2 tsp
nigella seeds 1/2 tsp
ajwain seeds 1/2 tsp

procedure...

Clean the tindas, discard the seeded ones. Quarter them all and keep aside. No need to peel the tindas as the baby gourds have very tender skin anyways.

Pound the spices listed under 'spices to coarsely pound' and keep aside.

Make a paste of the red onion and then blend in the yogurt. Keep aside. This can be done while the tindas will be stir fried for a while. Do as convenient.

Heat the mustard oil in a shallow pan or kadhai (I used a copper handi, tinned inside) and tip in the minced ginger. Fry for a few seconds or till it gets aromatic and then add the quartered tindas. Add salt and red chilly powder and stir fry till a few pinkish spots appear.

Now add the blended yogurt and onion, mix well and tip in the pounded spices, yellow mustard powder and the ginger powder if using. Mix again, bring the heat to lowest, cover the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. It may get ready sooner if the tindas are really tender. Keep an eye and remove from the stove once it looks like this.

The curry looks nice with a coating consistency of a dahi gravy when served. Roti, parathas or any Indian flat breads go really well with this curry. You might like this with a daal on the side or a meat dish may be. Slightly sour in taste, this curry gets a nice aroma of the pickling spices used. The bland taste of tinda gets a new makeover with yogurt and pickling spices. You can make this curry thinner in consistency if you like.

parwal ki bhujia or aaloo parwal ki lehsuni bhujia..

This is a very simple stir fry vegetable which is called bhujia in UP. Parwal or parval is pointed gourd, also known as patal or potol. This small gourd looks like a miniature snake guard and is considered cooling and detoxifying according to  Ayurveda.

This sukhi sabzi can be a side dish with daal chawal lunch or it can be a main accompaniment to roti or paratha. I remember carrying this bhujia to school in my lunch box, with tikona parathas of course.

This is one of the few recipes I make in exactly the same way as my mom used to make it. I usually keep experimenting and improving my recipes on the ground of health and nutrition, but this bhujia is the best representation of healthy, tasty and easy everyday Indian food and keeps repeating in my kitchen every summer.

Parval comes only during summers, I have tried growing parval many times but haven't been successful yet.

ingredients
(2 large servings)

250 gm parvals
100 gms potatoes with skin
5-6 fat cloves of garlic or a few more if you like
dry red chillies or green chillies to taste
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1.5 tbsp mustard oil
1/4 tsp methi and cumin seeds each

procedure

Just scrape the parvals using a paring knife, cut the parwals lengthwise in four pieces or six and some potatoes too in thin wedges.

Heat mustard oil in a pan, throw in a tsp of methi and jeera seeds each and when they crackle put the parwals first.

Stir fry till they are pinkish and then add the potato wedges and fry till they are pinkish too. Add salt to taste and turmeric powder is added along with a generous amount of garlic and green chilly paste. This paste is the main taste maker in this bhujia and it is always made in mustard oil.

After adding all these, stir fry and slow cook  till the aroma of cooked garlic is predominant and the bhujia is ready.

I make this bhujia in minimum oil. Just about 1.5 to 2 tbsp for 250 gm parwal and 100 gm potatoes, unpeeled new potatoes taste best.

It is easier to make it in more oil as it fries well but when using less oil you just have to be patient with the frying. A heavy bottomed pan and low heat works best for low oil version. Taste is the same for both the versions.

I prefer serving this bhujia with daal chawal for our lunch. It makes a healthy lunch with daal and boiled rice, plain curds and papad goes well with it but I like just this bhujia with my daal chawal for the rich garlic pleasure, nothing else is required between my dal chawal and bhujia.

I like the crunchy methi seeds in this bhujia too, if you don't like the slight bitter crunch of methi seeds, you can omit that and use only cumin seeds for tempering.

I am telling you one of my hack for this recipe too. Sometimes I use a past of garlic powder, chilli powder and turmeric powder mixed together with a little water to make this recipe too and it has never disappointed me. Slow cooking is the key in this recipe, keep the gas on low flame, keep stirring every couple of minutes and this bhujia will cook perfectly.

Do let me know of you try this recipe. It gives me immense pleasure to introduce the recipes from my homeland and the pleasure multiplied when you all find the recipes useful...