Kovakkai Poriyal is a simple recipe cooked with basic ingredients. Many us don’t like the kovakkai/ivy gourd vegetable, maybe for its earthy and green taste. In my opinion, kovakkai itself doesn’t have much flavor. But if we cook it in a certain way kovakkai also taste delicious. To reduce the green and earthy flavor, we need to roast the kovakkai and, in the end, sprinkle some tamarind water.
The best way to eat kovakkai poriyal is with egg rice. For years, I have been serving kovakkai fry with egg rice. For some reason, Kovakkai poriyal and egg rice go well together.
Check out spicy egg rice recipe and carrot and egg rice recipe.
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Ingredients :
- 15 Kovakkai/Ivy gourd(cut each kovakkai into four verticals pieces)
- half tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp of fennel powder
- 1/3 to 1/2 tsp of salt
- 3 to 4 tbsp of oil
- 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
- tamarind extract(pea size tamarind + 3 tsp of water)
- 1/8 tsp of mustard seeds
Procedure :
1. In a frying pan(preferably metal) heat required oil. Wait for the oil to get nice and hot.
2. Splutter the mustard seeds and then add chili powder, fennel powder, turmeric powder, and salt, mix the spices for a second.
3. Add in the kovakkai pieces/ivy gourd pieces and mix well for 3 minutes.
4. Let the Kovakkai cook until tender and well roasted with burnt marks.
5. After the Kovakkai roasted, just before to turn off the stove, add the tamarind extract and mix the kovakkai poriyal until the moisture is absorbed. It will take around a minute or so.
Serve kovakkai poriyal with egg rice/curd rice/sambhar rice.
