Dondakaya barada, a humble dry sautèed side dish made of Bengal gram dal/gram flour, ivy gourd and very basic spices. The simplicity and minimal spices is what makes this simple dish absolutely flavorful and delicious. With a surge of Buffet system in marriages or any celebratory occasions, this traditional dish from Telangana lost its presence on the menu. Fortunately it’s still thriving as in Telangana households in everyday meals and festive occasions.
WHAT IS BARADA ?
Barada is a traditional regional dish from Telangana and you’ll find this more in Arya vysya community kitchens. That’s where I belong from, we usually make this on Nagula panchami festival, a Hindu festival that involves worshipping snakes and serpent gods to protect people from being bitten by poisonous snakes. People visit temples and snake-pits to worship snake deities and real snakes and also make an offering of milk.
In Telangana, where I come from, people typically prepare Godhuma payasam, whole wheat pudding as an offering. Married women and young girls decks up in traditional attire, apply henna ‘mehendi’ and together they visit snake pits and offer the cow milk. Later the remaining milk is brought home, and applied on eyes of elders at home, to keep them safe. Our traditional meal on this day would always be Barada, Pachi pulusu, Annam(steamed rice), Godhuma payasam.
VARIATIONS OF BARADA
There are two variations of Barada widely seen in Telangana, one with gram flour/besan and other variant with grounded chana dal. In our family we use coarsely grounded bengal gram dal and the nuttiness, crunchiness it gives is the most interesting and delicious part. The star ingredient which enhances the flavor of this dish is the GARLIC, so do not skip on this. This tastes great with rice accompanied by Pacchi Pulusu or simple as it is with roti’s.
So, let’s start making the DONDAKAYA BARADA. Before that checkout some more authentic telangana dishes here.
Some more Main courses here.
DONDAKAYA BARADA
Ingredients
- 30 Ivy gourd
- ½ cup Chana dal/Bengal gram dal
- or
- ⅓ cup Gram flour / Besan
- 1 Onion thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp Cooking oil
- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- ½ tsp Cumin seeds
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- Salt to taste
- 1½ tsp Red chilli powder
- ½ cup Water
- 2 tbsp Cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- In a blender add the chana dal and pulse it to make a coarse powder and keep it aside. Note : Skip this step if you're using Gram flour instead.
- Wash, trim the edges and slice dondakaya into ½inch circles.
- Heat oil in a wide skillet, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chopped/minced garlic, curry leaves and let them splutter until garlic turns golden brown.
- Now add in thinly sliced onions, some salt and cook until the onions turns golden brown.
- Add in chopped ivy gourd, turmeric powder and give a good mix, cover and cook for 5 min on low-medium flame.
- Add little bit of salt, add grounded chana dal/gram flour, give it a good stir and cook for 3 min on medium flame.
- Now add the water, give it a good mix until everything is well combined. Cover the pan and cook for more 5 min on low flame, until ivy gourd are a bit tender
- Now add red chili powder, taste and adjust the salt and cook covered for 3 more minutes.
- Finally add in chopped cilantro and give it a good mix and serve hot with roti or rice accompanied by Pacchi Pulusu/Rasam .
Notes
- You can also use a mix of gram flour and grounded chana dal.
- You can substitute the ivy gourd with just onions, potatoes, spinach, fenugreek greens or any kind of firm veggies or greens.
- You can also add little of ginger garlic paste for more depth of flavor.
If you’ve tried this recipe and loved it, I’d love to hear your feedback by tagging your photo and share it with #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda or on Facebook . Also follow @taste.of.telangana on Instagram for more traditional recipes, culture and stories.
