Tindora Fry/Dondakaya Fry

I don't think that I had to post this as this is a very simple and common south Indian stir fry.Then the next question would be as to why am I posting it then?The answer is simple,this recipe is completely meant for all the newbies or bachelors or for people who are not familiar with south Indian cuisine.
On any day if I am served with just a simple fry,rasam and papad for lunch I would be more than any happy person to enjoy my meal heartily.Especially after a long holiday after eating lot of junk food I would be dying to have simple south Indian meal like this.Not only that,this kind of decent meal with a stir-fry,rasam and rice can be made under 30 minutes which is just perfect on lazy weekends or when short of time.During my school and college days,most of my lunch boxes had few breakfast items or mixed rice and pulav varieties.So during the weekends or on holidays I used to insist my mom to make just stir-fry and rasam as I thoroughly enjoy it.She used to start her cooking only around 12.30 in the noon as 1 o' clock was my usual lunch time and she used to serve everything right off from the pan,piping hot rasam and crispy stir-fry with steaming rice which is a match made in heaven for me.Why am I boasting about a simple stir-fry and rasam so much??Well if you are a south Indian you will understand why am I saying so much about simple stir fry and rasam.

Ingredients:
250 gms Tindora/Tendli/Dondakaya
2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds(optional)
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste
a sprig of curry leaves

Method:

• Cut tindora into thin round discs or lengthy thin strips and keep them aside.
• Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadai or non-stick pan and crackle mustard seeds and add curry leaves and let them get slightly crisp.
• Add sliced tindora and keep it in low to medium flame.Keep stirring it once in a while to let it fry until crispy.It might take 25-30 mins depends on the flame and tawa you use.
• Once it becomes crispy add required amount of salt and chili powder and mix well and fry for another couple of minutes.
• Once the fry is done do not cover it as it will loose its crunch and becomes slightly soggy.So its better to do it fresh and serve immediately rather than making it a couple of hours earlier.

Serve it hot with piping hot white rice and rasam/sambar/dal and papad.I served it with brown rice,tangy raw mango dal and papad.

Notes:

Follow the same method to make any fry with the vegetables like ladies finger, brinjal, potato, raw banana, arbi(but you need to boil it before).You need to fry them according to the cooking time required to make it.

Variations:

• I sometimes add garlic chilly powder instead of regular chilly powder which gives nice garlic flavor to the fry.You can even add slightly mashed whole garlic pods to the fry while you are frying it.
• You can even add sambar powder or goda masala instead of red chilly powder for a different flavor to the fry.