This is my tryst with tradition, my experience of “Cooking with Pedatha“. My pedatha, She is one helluva woman. Growing up in Hyderabad, I spent most of my free time after school/college at their place. I don’t remember missing a get together or a festivity at their place and have fun. Every function filled the house with relatives, cousins and friends. Sankranti was all about chakkarapongal and kites and Deepavali was all sweets and firecrackers. Although the kites meant, getting onto rooftops climbing precariously placed ladders or bursting firecrackers meant the traffic on the road was at our mercy.
Come summers, and my mamaiya would treat us to movies. We used to hire a VCR and watch movies continuously for hours together. Attendance was mandatory and my cousin did the roll call. Whats movies without snacks? You name it, pedatha had it. Lemonades, samosas, pakodas, bhel puri was served in abundance.
I rarely saw pedatha rest or have an afternoon siesta . Constantly on the go, she found work for herself in the kitchen. My Pedatha is famous for her stuffed curries , pickles ,chutneys and podis.Here is one gold nugget from her precious traditional recipe collection.
Ingredients:
15-20 Dondakaya/Tindora/Ivy Gourd
Oil
For the filling:
1/4 cup of senagapindi/besan/chickpea flour
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 teaspoon red chili powder
Salt to taste
For the garnish:
1/4 cup Roasted Peanut(Optional)
Note: If you dont have dessicated/dry coconut you can use grated onions instead.
Method:
1. Make a plus shaped slit from one tip to almost the other, leave a few cms on one end. Microwave at high for 5 minutes by adding water and remove.
2. Carefully stuff the dondakaya with the filling
2. Heat a wide skillet with Oil and add the dondakaya. I dont deep fry them , instead use an age old trick b covering the skillet with a plate and pouring water over it. This is called “Maggapettadam” in Telugu , similar too steaming and works wonderfully if you dont want to use a lot of oil .
3.Cook on medium flame and keep turning once in a while, The whole cooking process takes a good 15 minutes.
4. If there is any filling left over, sprinkle it over the curry and cook for another 1 minute.
5. Remove from heat and garnish with roasted peanuts if you like. It gives a crunch to the stuffed curry
August 10th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Hi..never tried making tindora this way..looks very delicious in the pic. Will try it out….
August 10th, 2007 at 12:29 am
hi,
very interesting recipe …we make something similar but with onion filling/masala ..will try this one out sometime ..
And the photographs are great too …
August 10th, 2007 at 4:13 am
Hey, Those loook super delicious
Great recipe Thx!!!
August 10th, 2007 at 4:36 am
Looks very pretty and inviting. A new way though.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:08 am
looks very nice…
Srivalli
http://www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com
August 10th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Dee,your Pedatha sounds like fun girl. I can imagine all that movie watching and eating at her house! That must have been great fun.I grew up with just 4 of us. Only in Summer,we went to the estates to my mom’s parents and to play with my 8 uncles and 3 aunts!:D
Tondli with peanuts looks yum.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:12 am
pretty looking and inviting too, I am kinda bored eating the same old fried tindora, this one is a treat itself for tindoras…thanks for your pedattha…such wonderful recipe
August 10th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Hi, It’s my first time here and I’m loving it!I love the color & the look of your blog.
That’s a nice way of using tindoras. I’ve got to give it a shot whenI get a chance.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Dee….
))
Ur Dondakaya recipe is mouth-watering
Will surely try it
August 10th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
looks soooo good, dee. lucky you to have such a pedatha.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Looks so yummy! I have a similar recipe but I don’t stuff the tindora, just chop it and saute with the chickpea and the rest of the ingredients.
August 10th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
the filling is very simple and easy to try out. I am bored of making vepudu. can try this one next time. looks yummy.
August 11th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
What a wonderful recipe Dee! The tindora look so good and crispy.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
thats such a cute story dee
never stuffed tindora but if its ur pedatha’s recipe then it must be rocking 
bookmarked n will try when i get fresh tindoras
August 12th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Mee gutti dondakaya chala bagundhi. My mother prepares eggplants with the same filling.
August 14th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Hi there, I like your blog! Nice recipe it looks yummy
Feel free to visit my blog too 
Click here for jeenas food recipe blog
August 14th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
@Lakshmi,Nupur,TBC, Sri,Lavany, sharmi, padma Do let me know how you like it.
@Aruna, SeeC, Srivalli, thanks for the nice comments
@Tee, yes tee, sometimes if the tindora are too thin to stuff, I make a cut them like above, instead of stuffing just sprinkle the stuffing.
@Ashakka, it was mostly in summer I went home to see my parents.. until my grandma was alive. But it was great fun!!!
@ true bee, We are lucky to have her
@ try maadi sia if you can, it simply melts in the mouth and sure is rocking
@Suma garu, avunu ma amma kuda ilane chestaaru
@ Thanks jenna for the nice comments, will surely visit your blog
August 16th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Dee, I tried this today and it was really really good. It’s more time consuming than the normal fry but very worth it. Thanks to you and your pedatha!
August 17th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Hi Dee, I simply adore Tindora..looks like today is my favourite’s special on everybody’s blog..hehe! First it was sharmi’s strawberries, then bhindi now this! Will try this..I have tindora on hand
Chaala thanks andi!
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I love dondakai in any form and this looks delicious. I have a question tho… when you are doing “Maggapettadam†, should you leave a little gam for allowing it to steam?
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
i meant gap not gam!
June 25th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
nice
July 11th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Hi Dee, Anything to do with “Pedatha” rocks. Your recipe looks awesome. Glad to visit this blog. What brought me here by Google were the phrases “cooking with Pedatha” and “tryst with tradition”, both used richly in our book “Cooking at home with Pedatha”. There is something so conforting and enriching in learning from elders and we are glad to share that we share the same joy.
November 16th, 2008 at 7:34 am
This is the same way I used to cook some times I use curry masala. The concept of “maggapettadam” I regularly follow. I am excited to see this here. I have not seen many following this method especially new age “bahus”. My wife gives a crazy look at me when I am doing this. Ha Ha Ha.
Shyam