Tindora rice / ivy gourd rice known as Kovakkai sadam in Tamil (Dondakaya annam in Telugu) is an easy, yummy Indian lunch box recipe . As many of my readers are asking me to share more rice varieties for lunch box, I thought of posting this easy, one pot rice recipe made using our Indian pressure cooker.

As this recipe has no grinding job, you can prepare it easily under 15 minutes. Ideal for bachelors and working women to pack it for lunch box. I adapted this recipe from

Sailus blog. I made some variations and tried it without coconut as per my convenience. It came out really well. Sendhil and Raksha are not a fan of tindora vegetable. Still they liked this rice. I am sure your family would love it too.

Do try it once and share your feedback with me. For variations, you can make the tindora masala separately and mix with leftover rice or freshly cooked rice. Ok, lets see how to make kovakkai sadam / tindora rice with step by step pictures.

Check out my 40+ Vegetable biryani and pulao recipes.

Also see my other rice varieties for lunch box.

Tindora rice / Kovakkai sadam

How to make tindora rice easily in a pressure cooker for lunch box.

Cuisine:
South Indian

Category:
Main course

Serves:
Serves 3

Prep time:
10 Minutes

Cook time:
20 Minutes

Total time:
30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup – 250ml

Basmati rice – 1 cup ( I used loose basmati rice bought from Metro)
Tindora/ Kovakkai / Ivy gourd – 15
Big onion – 1 (finely chopped)
Green chilli – 1 or 2
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric ;powder – 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice – as needed
Coriander leaves + mint leaves – 2 tbsp
Water – 1.5 cups
Salt – as needed

To saute

Cooking oil + ghee – 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Cinnamon – 1 inch
Cloves – 2
Bayleaf – 1
Black stone flower / kalpasi – 1
Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

HOW TO MAKE TINDORA RICE / KOVAKKAI SADAM

Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 15 minutes.
Wash and slice tindora / kovakkai into thin vertical slices.
Wash and chop onion. Set aside.
Heat oil + ghee in a pressure cooker base. Saute the whole garam masala spices.
Saute onion, gg paste, green chilli. Add chopped mint+coriander leaves, sliced kovakkai and saute well.
Add spice powders and mix well. Lastly add water and salt. Mix well.
When the water roll boils, add the basmati rice. Mix gently.
Pressure cook for one whistle in low flame. Add lemon juice. Fluff the rice and serve hot with onion raita !

METHOD – STEP BY STEP PICTURES

Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 15 minutes. In the mean time, wash and slice tindora/ kovakkai. Trim off the top and bottom. Then cut into thin slices vertically. I chopped into 6 thin vertical slices. Wash and chop onion finely.
Heat oil + ghee in a pressure cooker base. Once its heated, saute cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and black stone flower. Add onion, green chilli. Saute till transparent. Then add ginger garlic paste. Saute till raw smell goes off.

Now add the chopped mint + coriander leaves. Mix well. Add kovakkai pieces.

Saute in medium flame till it starts to shrink. Then add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander seeds powder and salt. Mix well.

Lastly add water and let it roll boil. Add the washed rice. Mix gently. Close the cooker. Keep the flame high till vapor comes out. Put the weight valve. Reduce the flame completely, cook for one whistle. It may take 8 to 10 minutes. Switch off the flame. Remove the cooker lid after the steam is released completely.