Tindora/Ivy gourd Kodilu

Tindora Kodilu is a curry dish prepared without any Dal. This dish is straight from my mum's kitchen.

It is good to have someone who has more than 30 years of experience in cooking to share some of the recipes.Tindora (Ivy gourd) is a vegetable used mainly in Asia. It has medicinal properties which is why Tindora is also used to treat breathing problems, jaundice and fever. Tindora is also rich in Beta-carotene.

Grated Coconut is used to thicken this curry and is easy to prepare. Please excuse the quality of the photos. I guess she tried to take pics in a hurry. Hope you all like the curry.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	145		Calories
Fat	8		%
Carbohydrate	7		%
Dietary Fiber	44		%
Sodium	33		%
Vitamin A	10		%
Vitamin C	40		%
Calcium	10		%
Iron	22		%
Protein	2.6		Grams
Sugar	2.3		Grams

Ingredients
Tindora/Ivy gourd chopped	10
Grated coconut	1 cup
Red chillies	6 or 7
Tamarind	size of half a lemon
Turmeric powder	1/2 tsp
Salt	to taste

To Temper
Coconut Oil	1 tsp
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves	10

Wash and slightly smash the Ivy gourds as shown in the picture.

Boil a pot of water and add the smashed Ivy gourds. 

Cover the lid and cook till the Ivy gourds are soft.

Gather the ingredients for masala.

Roast the coconut and red chillies for 2-3 minutes under low heat.

Grind the roasted coconut, red chillies, Turmeric and tamarind to a smooth paste.

Add the ground masala to the cooked Ivy gourds. Also add salt and some water if required. Bring the mixture to boil.

Heat oil and add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter. Add garlic cloves and fry for 20-3 minutes.

Add it to the mixture and serve hot with white rice or rotis.

Potato Parsley soup

Parsley is called as one of the world's healthiest foods beacuse of it's innumerous health benefits. Some of them being the high nutrient content and healing properties.

A 100 grams of Parsley is only 36 calories. It contains 15% potassium, 13% dietary fiber, 168% Vitamin A, 13% calcium, 221% Vitamin C, 34% Iron, 5% Vitamin-B6 and 12% Magnesium.

Personally, I don't like parsley because of it's strong flavour. But it tastes better when it is blanched like this Parsley soup and potato adds the extra taste to it.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	125		Calories
Fat	16		%
Carbohydrate	2		%
Dietary Fiber	12		%
Sodium	3		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	0		%
Iron	0		%
Protein	2.4		Grams
Sugar	5.3		Grams

Ingredients
Oil/butter	1 tsp
Onion chopped	1
Green chillies chopped (optional)	3
Potato chopped	1
Parsley	quantity of your choice
Water	4 cups
Salt	to taste
Pepper powder	1/2 tsp
Lemon juice (optional)	1 tsp

Melt butter/ add oil in a pan. Add chopped onion and green chillies and fry for a while.

Add chopped potatoes and fry for a minute or 2.

Add a cup of water and cook till the potato gets soft.

In a pot of boiling water, add cleaned parsley and let it stay in for about 2 minutes.

Remove the pot from heat, drain the hot water and add cold water/ice cold water quickly. This help parsley to retain it's bright green colour.

Once the potato is cooked, remove the mixture from heat and let it cool.

Once the mixture is cool, add blanched parsley and grind/blend them to a fine paste.

Usually, you can filter the paste to make it look good. But it is better not to filter and lose all that nice fibre from parsley.

Pour the mixture to a pot under heat and add the remaining water. Add salt and bring it to boil.

Add pepper powder and boil the mixture for another 3-4 minutes.

Serve hot with a drop of lemon juice.