‘When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use, when diet is correct, medicine is of no need’. Ayurvedic proverb
Here is another recipe for those who are interested in learning about some new vegetables with powerful healing properties. I promised my classmates in Ayurvedic School that I would post a few of these to help get them started.
Ayurveda is an ancient medical science, its how people were diagnosed and treated 5000 years ago. The main principles are to see your body as your tool for diagnosis, your skin, tongue, eyes, nails, hair to understand what the body has in excess or is lacking and to bring yourself back to balance using herbs and food. Ayurveda also notes the mind body connection and thus being out of balance in the body, leads to different emotional states and thus is linked to not only physical but also mental state and disease. If you think about it, it may be the most democratic health system in the world. It is available to all at a very low cost.
In our class we have been learning about the wonderful effects of certain herbs and spices for digestion, blood pressure, insulin control and also some new vegetables that have these types of effects also.
Tindora, also known as Ivy Gourd, is a vegetable that is like a less watery courgette/zucchini. It is found in India and other Asian countries and has many medicinal benefits. It is known to improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes and is said to have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Ivy gourd is rich in fibre B vitamins and iron. This recipe is super simple, using layering of spices for health and flavour. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the spices, just use what you have or use a curry powder or garam masala. There is a short video on my Instagram page also.
Ingredients
- 20 Tindora
- 1 tsp. cumin seeds
- 2 dried red chilli
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- 6 dried curry leaves
- 1 pinch of Hing/Asafetida
- ½ tsp. turmeric
- ½ tsp. red chilli powder
- ½ tsp. garam masala
- ½ tsp. coriander powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. oil
Method
- Wash and rinse the tindora
- Chop the top and tail off and half lengthways
- Heat oil in a pan to a medium heat and add the cumin seeds
- Add the dried red chilis, curry leaves, green chilli and Hing, stir and fry
- Add the tindoras to the pan
- Add the turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder, salt and lemon juice
- Stir fry the vegetables on a high heat for 2 minutes and then on a lower heat, covered for 10-15 minutes, depending on how soft you like them
- Serve as a side, main, on their own or with roti or rice
