Dondakaya Ava Pachadi ~ Ivy Gourd Pickle

Dondakaya pachadi (ivy gourd pickle) is one of the pickles that my mom makes or use to make on a regular basis. She still makes this pickle but not as often as she use to, few years ago. One of U’s aunts, aunt L who lives in the US tasted this pickle at my mom’s place during her visit to India and she liked it a lot. She took the recipe from amma and now she makes this pickle regularly. Amma’s recipe does not have exact measurements as she adds all the ingredients by hand. Four years ago when aunt L visited us in NY, she mentioned that she makes this very often. I took the recipe measurements from her but never made the pickle until last night.

This pickle has a mustard flavor and although I like this flavor, my body doesn’t take too much of mustard that well. It generates too much heat in my body and used less mustard powder than the recipe called for. Mustard powder can be adjust to one’s taste. This is an easy recipe and it can be consumed 3 - 4 hours after it is pickled. Ivy gourd & garlic pieces are first marinated in lime juice and salt for 1-2 hours and then mixed with the pickle mixture and finished off with a tempering. Pickle stays good for up to 2-3 months in the fridge. I never kept it longer than that.

Ingredients:

• 20 - 22 Dondakayalu ~ Ivy Gourd or 1 - 1 ½ cup Dondakayalu cut into ½" pieces
• 4-6 Garlic Cloves chopped (opt. but I like garlic in pickles. Adjust to one’s preference)
• 3 ½ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• 3 ½ - 4 tbsp. Lime Juice (adjust to taste)
• ¼ cup Roasted Sesame Seeds, powdered
• 1 – 2 tbsp. Mustard Seeds, powdered (adjust to taste. I used 1 ½ tbsp.)
• ¾ tsp. Methi ~ Fenugreek Powder
• 2 tbsp. Chili Powder
• ½ tsp. Coriander Powder

Tempering:

• ⅓ – ½ cup Oil (I used ⅓ cup)
• 3-4 Curry Leaves
• 1 Red Dry Chili
• ½ - ¾ tsp. each of Mustard, Cumin & Methi (fenugreek) Seeds
• Dash of Hing or asafetida
• Turmeric

Preparation:

• Wash ivy gourd and pat dry the ivy gourd or let them drain in a colander. Once the gourds are dry, cut off the tips and cut each ivy gourd into ½” pieces. First cut the gourd into two, length wise and then cut each piece into ½” pieces. Marinate ivy gourd pieces, garlic pieces, salt and lime for 1 -2 hours.
• While the ivy gourd is marinating, toast sesame seeds in a dry pan. Once the seeds are roasted, remove from stove and let cool. I usually roast sesame seeds and store in the pantry and these come very hand.
• Roast ½ tsp. methi seeds until the seeds turn brown. Once it cools, grind to powder. We need only ¾ tsp. methi powder. I usually have roasted methi seeds powder in my pantry and used it.
• Grind roasted sesame seeds, mustard seeds to fine powder.
• In a bowl mix together sesame powder, mustard powder, chili powder and coriander powder and keep aside until the ivy gourd pieces are marinated.
• For tempering, heat oil and add all the tempering ingredients in the order listed in the ingredient list. Let the tempering cool.
• Once the ivy gourd are marinated for 1-2 hours, add sesame seed chili powder mixture to ivy gourd and mix well until the mixture is well mixed.
• Add the tempering, mix and keep aside for at least 3-4 hours or overnight. Then the pickle is ready to use.