Seasoned, shallow fried, roasted ivy gourds (Tendle Talasani)

Seasoned, shallow fried, roasted ivy gourds (Tendle Talasani)

This ivy gourd dish is a Konkani cuisine speciality. Ivy gourds are crushed, seasoned and shallow fried on low heat until they're nicely roasted. These roasted, spicy ivy gourds are delicious & such a pleasure to eat.

They're usually served as a side for lunch, dinner. For me, this dish is a starter. I just can't resist the urge to dig into these roasted ivy gourds. :) I devour on them one after the other & it's highly likely there won't be any left for others at home. Trust me, they're that delicious. I muster a lot of inner strength to keep some of these delicious, roasted ivy gourds for my lovely family. :) ;)

This ivy gourd dish is called tendle talasani/talasan in Konkani. Talasani/talasan in Konkani refers to a dish prepared by shallow frying veggies in oil. Tendle in Konkani means ivy gourd.

Here goes the recipe of tendle talasani/talasan for you. Give it a try & let me know how much you loved them. ;) :)

Ingredients:

  • 15-20 Ivy gourds
  • 2-3 green chillies
  • 1-2 dried red chillies
  • 3 tablespoons of oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon of urad dal
  • 2 leaflets of curry leaf
  • Salt to taste

Serves: 2-3

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes

Picking right ivy gourds to prepare this dish:

Tendle talasan tastes the best when you make them using tender most ivy gourds. Tender, thin ivy gourds cook faster and get well roasted. And thus, they turn out to be yummy.

Preparation Method:

  1. Wash the ivy gourds well. Chip off both their ends just in case they're dirty.
  2. Then smash ivy gourds one by one. Use a mortar and pestle or a meat tenderizer to crush them.
  3. Crush them well such that they are flattened out but are intact as a whole ivy gourd. Do take care as to the ivy gourds remain whole even after smashing them well. Let them not break into pieces.
  4. Having few pieces of ivy gourd is ok. They get well roasted and turn out to be absolutely yummy. They’ll be the best ones to eat (with loads of taste, crispiness in them) but they do not look appetising while you serve them. 
  5. The more you crush the ivy gourds, the more they take up salt, spice, all the flavour from the seasoning and turn out to be yummy.
  6. The more crushed the ivy gourds are, the faster they cook and get well roasted too. Well crushed & thus, well-roasted ivy gourds are delicious to eat.
  7. Transfer all the smashed ivy gourds into a bowl, add salt, toss them well and keep them aside for a minimum of 30 minutes. During this time ivy gourds take up salt. After 30 minutes, you can then season and cook them. 
  8. Seasoning: Heat up a non-stick pan, add in oil, mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to splutter, add in urad dal and let them fry. Once they start to brown, add in slit green chillies, dried red chillies roughly broken into pieces, curry leaves and saute them. Let them fry for a minute. 
  9. Then add in crushed ivy gourds, 1/2 cup of water and let them cook closed on a medium flame until all the water evaporates out. 
  10. Once all the water evaporates, remove off the lid. The ivy gourds would have changed in colour and would be half cooked.
  11. Then fry them on a low flame without adding any more water, until they cook through & get roasted. Let them brown a little on both sides. That's when they get a little crispy & taste delicious. 
  12. Only tender ivy gourds get crispy on roasting. Mature ivy gourds that are thick in size will take a lot of time to get cooked & roasted.  
  13. If your ivy gourds are mature, then they'll need more water to cook too. In that case, sprinkle water if required, little by little at frequent intervals until the ivy gourds cook through. Once ivy gourds are almost cooked (you know it from their colour), stop adding any more water and let them fry on a small flame. Fry until you get slightly roasted ivy gourds. Chances are your thick, mature ivy gourds will remain soft even after a long time of roasting.
  14. The more water you use to cook ivy gourds initially, chances are they'll not get well roasted even after a long time. So, the trick to making delicious, roasted ivy gourds (tendle talasani/talasan) is to add as less water as possible to cook them & then fry them on a small flame using lots of oil if needed, until they get roasted.                
  15. Serve them hot as a side dish for lunch/dinner.

Side Note: 

  1. Instead of the mustard seasoning, a lot of Konkani’s use garlic seasoning to make this talasani. The only difference is using crushed garlic in place of mustard seeds-urad dal-curry leaves. Rest of the steps of preparation and ingredients remain the same.
  2. Technically, this dish has to be prepared without adding any water. If ivy gourds are very tender then they cook through in oil, without adding any water. If they're mature, thick ivy gourds, then you’ll have to add water to cook them through. Mature ivy gourds like the ones in the picture below.                 

Find more Konkani cuisine side dishes here. 

Tags: Konkani food, Konkani recipe, Konkani dish, Konkani cuisine, Udupi cuisine, Mangalore food, ivy gourd, tendle, talasani, stir fry, side dish.

 

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