Kovakka Thoran/Upperi

A few days back my husband went and bought these small cucumbers from the grocery near our place. I had asked him to buy some new veggies for making upperi coz I was fed up of eating only beans, peas, beetroot, cauliflower and cabbage. And so my husband bought these:

(Got this pic from http://kitchentantras.com/... couldnt take a pic of my own with the ones I had coz I used them all up)

They looked like small cucumbers to me and I had no clue what to do with them. As I didnt even know their name I couldn't search for a recipe. I was going to ask my husband but kept forgetting and they have been sitting in the refrigerator for 3 days until last night I remembered and asked. He said it was 'kovakka' and was surprised I haven't had it before.  

While browsing thru google for a recipe I understood that this is made like any other thoran/upperi. Grated coconut, small onions and dry red chillies as the base grind mix.



So this is what I did...

Ingredients:

• Kovakka (Tindora / Ivy gourd). I had around 2 and half cups after I had chopped them.
• 6-7 small onions
• 4-5 tbsp grated coconut
• 2 dry red chillies
• 6-7 curry leaves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp mustard seed
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (You can use any oil u want. All keralites love food cooked in coconut oil)
• salt to taste

Directions to make:

• Chop the tindora into the shape or size u want. Small size would mean it'd cook faster.
• Grind together grated coconut, small onions and dry red chilly. Semi-grind. Don't grind into a paste.
• In a pan heat 2 tbsp of coconut oil, add mustard seed, let it splutter. Add curry leaves. Then add cumin seeds let it splutter too for half a minute. 
• Now add in the coconut-small onion-red chilly mix. Cook that for a minute or two until coconut starts changing to light brown. Add in the chopped Ivy gourd. Mix well. Add salt and turmeric.
• Cover and let this cook for 15-20 minutes on low flame. Add a little water so that it doesnt burn and stick to the pan. Dont add too much water and make into a paste. The thoran should be dry.
• After 15 minutes check if its cooked according to ur way. (I have noticed with thoran's some people like it almost cooked not fully. And some really want it fully cooked. So let this cook to the level u want.) 

We had it with rice, manthal(sole fish) mulakittathu and manthal fry.
One deliciously Kerala meal... :)
Alhamdulillah! :)