Thondekaayi Kadale Kalu Palya or Tindora Chickpeas Sabji is a coconut based Karnataka style side dish with simple homely spices.
This thondekaayi kadale kalu palya is made with just a handful of whole spices roasted and ground with fresh coconut. It can be served with chapathi or with rasam/sambar/curd or also served with rice as a whole dish.
Cooking a fairly big spread is an everyday affair at my mom’s. Lunch meal typically comprises of a main dish and two-three side dishes, like in many Indian families. And palya ( vegetable stir-fry) is a compulsory side dish, especially with rasam and rice.
Typically, we do a simple tempered vegetable with coconut or tempered vegetable cooked longer in spice powder and coconut mixture. This spice powder, what we call ‘Palyada Pudi’ is like the garam masala of our kitchen. It goes into all stir-fries, and rice varieties like vangi baath, capsicum baath etc.
So, this recipe of thondekaayi kadale kaalu palya / tindora chickpeas sabji is from my mom’s kitchen and is mainly based on the freshly ground spice powder. There might be some changes in the recipe of this pudi/spice powder in each family, and I am sharing below the recipe that is pretty much the same in most of our families.
If you do have a batch of homemade ‘palyada pudi / vangi bath masala’, you could definitely use that instead, if you wish to.
I love the combination of a vegetable with a legume. I don’t know if it is to do with how they both taste together or the textural combination, but I simply can eat a bowlful of these together in any form- sambar, curry, stir fry, anything!
This combination of tindora with chickpeas is perhaps one of the best that you can cook with tindora. And when I say that this recipe is from my mom’s kitchen, it certainly has to be good!
So, here I have for you, a simple, homely, delicious palya/ sabji that you can cook with tindora/ivy gourd. Trust me, this is heavenly with curd rice or rasam rice or plain rice or with roti too.
Tips and Variations
- If you are a person who prefers a bit of gravy to go along with roti / chapathi, you can add more water to this sabji and simmer it for a bit. But, keep a watch on the spice level, as the measurement below is perfect for a dry curry or a semi-gravy version.
- You could use Kabuli chana instead of black chickpeas, but take the quantity slighter lesser than that of black chickpeas.
- The recipe of spice powder given below, holds good for any Karnataka style sabji or rice variety like vangi baath (brinjal baath), capsicum baath, tindora baath etc. If you are planning to make a larger quantity and store it, DO NOT use fresh coconut as mentioned here. Use dry coconut / kopra (just a tbsp) or you can simply skip it.
- You could use the same recipe for other vegetables like potato-capsicum-chickpeas, potato-brinjal, mixed vegetables etc.
How to make tindora chickpeas baath (rice)
The same sabji can be used to make a rice dish, just like the way we do vangi bath (brinjal rice).
So, follow the recipe below to make the sabji, with a little less water. Once he sabji is done, mix in the cooked rice and let this sit for 2 to 3 minutes in heat for the flavours to get absorbed.
Lastly, adjust salt if required and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Your tindora-chickpeas baath aka rice is ready.
I hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed preparing it and writing it down for you all. I would love to hear your feedback on this. When you try it, kindly post your valuable comments below or share it with me personally on Instagram / Facebook, or post it with due courtesy. You may also pin it on Pinterest.
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Recipes you might be interested in:
Gujarati Vaghareli Khichdi with Foxtail Millet
So, let us get into this recipe of Tindora-Chickpeas Sabji, shall we?
Thondekaayi Kadale Kaalu Palya | Tindora Chickpeas Sabji
Ingredients
To Grind
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 nos. cloves
- 1 tbsp urad dal
- 1 tbsp chana dal
- 1 tbsp dhaniya (coriander seeds)
- 6-7 nos. dry red chillies - , byadagi variety (less spicy)
- 0.5 tsp white sesame seeds - , hulled
- 4-5 tbsp fresh grated coconut
For Tempering
- 2 tsps oil
- 0.5 tsp mustard seeds
- 0.5 tsp urad dal
- 0.5 tsp chana dal
- a pinch of turmeric powder
- a pinch of asafoetida
- few curry leaves
- 2.5 cups ivy gourd (tindora) - , washed & chopped to four thin strips
- 0.75 cup black chickpeas - , soaked overnight or canned
- marble size piece of tamarind - , soaked in water
- a small piece of jaggery
- salt - to taste
Instructions
- Pressure cook soaked black chickpeas in 2 cups of water for 3 to 4 whistles. Or directly use canned chickpeas.
- In the meantime, start roasting the whole spices. For this, dry roast sesame seeds in LOW HEAT until it turns aromatic and nutty. Then, keep them aside. Next, add in a tsp of oil and roast cinnamom stick, clove. Let them release their flavours and then add in chana & urad dal. Once they turn slightly brown, add in the coriander seeds and dry red chillies. Let them also turn aromatic. Switch off the heat and add in coconut and saute for a few minutes. Transfer this onto a plate and let it cool completely.
- Once the spices are cooled down, add in some cold water and blend to a smooth or slightly coarse paste.
- Next, take a wide pan and heat 2 tsps oil. Add in mustard seeds and let them crackle, put in urad dal, chana dal, turmeric, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let the lentils turn slightly golden in colour.
- Now add in the chopped tindora / ivy gourd and sprinkle some salt to speeden up cooking. Add very little water and cook this covered until they are soft but firm (do not overcook).
- Once tindora is cooked completely, add the ground coconut paste, mix well. Add in the cooked black chickpeas. Mix everything well, season with more salt if required. Add 0.5 cup water and let this cook for about 5 mins.
- In the meantime soak a small marble sized tamarind in water and squeeze out the juice. Add this along with a small piece of jaggery to the pan and let everything cook well for another 5 minutes. Add in more water if required.
- Finish off with coriander leaves and serve this as a side-dish with chapathi or rice.
Notes
- You can either soak dry chickpeas and cook or use canned chickpeas.
- This recipe holds good with other vegetables too, like potato-capsicum-chickpeas, potato-brinjal, mixed vegetables etc.
- You could use the same spice powder to make Karnataka style rice varieties like vangi baath, capsicum baath etc.
- You can alter the number of chillies based on your taste. You could also use a combination of guntur (spicy variety) and byadagi red chillies. But make sure to use more byadagi as it gives a bright red colour to the spice powder.