Ivy Gourd/ Gentlemen's Toes/ Little Gourd Vegetable

 Ingredients:

• Ivy Gourd/ Gentlemen's Toes/ Little Gourd /Tendula (Tondli)  250 grams, chopped horizontally or vertically as desired.
• 3 green chilies finely chopped
• cumin seeds ( jeera)
• mustard seeds
• Salt as required
• Oil
• turmeric powder
• Asafoetida
• Lemon juice if desired
• ½ table spoon sugar if desired
• Coriander leaves

Time Required:

15 minutes.

Serving:

2 persons

Method:

• Take a table spoon of oil in a pan and add mustard, cumin seeds and let it crackle. 
• Add green chilies and sauté for a minute.
• Add asafoetida and tendula cut pieces to the pan. Mix everything thoroughly.
• Keep it on low flame and keep stirring after a while.
• Add turmeric powder, coriander leaves, lemon juice (if desired), sugar (if desired). Cook for few minutes but keep sauting in between.
•  Serve hot along with chapati/rotli/dashmi.

Health Benefits:

  Being rich in vitamin C, it helps in strengthening your bones and improving your body structure. It is also a rich source of vitamin  B1,  B2 and Vitamin A which help in strengthening your immune system, and thus keep away diseases.

Tendli is also rich in minerals like potassium, calcium and iron, which are needed in optimum quantities for the optimum functioning of your body. A very good vegetable controlling the diabetes, it is natural blood purifier and detoxifier. With lots of fiber contents it prevents and cures constipation.

Bonus Tip :

You can add plain curd or flavored yogurt to vegetable while cooking and this will give you different taste. Boiled raw banana pieces also can be added to the vegetable and that will be different version.  Tomato can be added and you will get again a different version of the vegetable.

Fuel Saving Tip :

Remember you can save up to 30% of gas/fuel if you simply switch on the gas stove only after preparation of all required materials within reach. You will not only avoid the idle flame but also will save wastage of 135gs of gas.