Dondakaya Fry (Tindora Fry)

Dondakaya Fry is a side dish of ivy gourd, stir fried with spices and curry leaves. It is a staple in the Telugu speaking homes and is eaten with hot rice and ghee, mixed together. Andhra and Telangana restaurants serve this in a meal known as Andhra Bhojanam/ meals. This Tindora Fry also goes well as a side in any Indian meal, alongside, rice-dal, rice-rasam or rice-sambar or simply with roti or chapati.

About Dondakaya Fry

In Telugu we call it as Dondakaya Vepudu, where dondakaya refers to the ivy gourd and vepudu means stir fried. However it is very common to find a variation of this with deep fried ivy gourd and that’s how the chefs make it for weddings and special meals. It also has peanuts, coconut and sometimes sesame seeds.

If you are not from India, may be you have never heard or eaten this vegetable. Ivy gourd is a tropical veggie that grows on vines and also goes by the name scarlet gourd. It is known by various regional Indian names such as Tindora, Kovakkai, tendli and kundru.

It is usually stir fried or sometimes cooked to a curry with onions and tomatoes like this Dondakaya Curry. There is also one popular dish from the Karnataka known as Kadle Manoli, where ivy gourd is cooked in combination with black chickpeas and coconut. We also make a spicy chutney known as Dondakaya Pachadi. In this post I share my Mom’s easy recipe to make dondakaya fry.

Prepping up this veggie the traditional way really takes time as you need to trim off both the ends and cut them length-wise to long strips or quarters. It can take almost 30 minutes for this task. My Mom taught me to use the food processor for this and that’s how I make this all the time. However you can also use an onion chopper but you need to do it in batches or alternately, chop them to round slices or lengthwise slices.

There are 2 benefits with the step of using food processor or chopper. Firstly you save time by not having to chop them and secondly the tiny pieces cook faster than the quarters or strips. It tastes the same and if you have fussy kids home, this may be an easier way to get them eat. However if you want to go the traditional way you can slice the gourd lengthwise as shown in the picture below.

More Andhra Style dishes
Bendakaya Fry
Beerakaya Fry
Aratikaya Vepudu
Yam Fry

Photo Guide

Step by step Photo Instructions

1. Wash 250 grams ivy gourd very well in your preferred way. I rinse them under running water and add them to a bowl filled with water, little vinegar and salt. Let soak for 5 to 10 mins and rinse them well again. Wipe dry with a cloth, chop both the ends and discard. You can slice to thin round slices or lengthwise as shown above. But I simply add them to a processor/chopper and use the pulse button (do not process).

2. Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons oil in a kadai. Add the following ingredients one after the other

• ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon chana dal (soak in hot water for 15 mins & pat dry, if you want)
• 1 teaspoon urad dal (soak in hot water for 15 mins, if you want)
• 1 to 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 broken dried red chilli
• 1 sprig curry leaves (pat dry first)

3. Let fry until the lentils turn golden and aromatic. Add a pinch of hing (optional) and the chopped dondakaya or slices. Also add in ⅛ teaspoon turmeric and ⅓ teaspoon salt. Saute on a medium high flame for 3 mins and cook covered on a low heat until tender and fully cooked through. Keep stirring in between to prevent burning.

4. You will need 2 to 4 tablespoons grated raw coconut here. Or use idli podi, peanut podi or vepudu karam. If you want to make my aromatic vepudu karam make it from the recipe card below. Here I am using raw coconut and 1 tablespoon raw sesame seeds ground coarsely.

5. When the gourd is tender add in the coconut. Mix and fry until it smells good, for 2 mins.

6. Sprinkle ¼ to ½ teaspoon red chilli powder. You can also add some 1 to 2 tbsps roasted skinned peanuts at this stage (optional).

7. Stir fry until the raw smell is gone, for another 2 to 3 mins. Taste test to adjust salt or chili powder.

Serve dondakaya fry with hot rice and ghee or with chapati.

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Recipe Card