Stir-fried Tindora with Crushed Mustard Seeds

Tindora is a vegetable which is mostly used in Indian cooking. I came up with this dish when I bought a bunch of Tindora and found out that they don't taste too good if used with too much Indian spices. So I came up with this simple but spicy concoction. However, if you cannot find Tindora, you can use green beans instead for this recipe. Of course, they do not taste the same. Nevertheless, the green beans also make a very tasty dish which can be served alongside some grilled chicken or steak.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Tindora - 1 lb/ 500gms, cut in half, lengthwise.*
• Onion- 1 large, sliced thinly.
• Green chillies- 4/5 (depending on heat preference, you can use more or less), sliced in half
• Whole mustard seeds - 1.5 tsp, coarsely crushed in mortar & pestle
• Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
  
• Salt - to taste

Methods:

• Wash the tindora, cut the tips, and slice them in half lengthwise.
• Blanch them in boiling salted water till cooked. Make sure not to overdo it, they should still be green and a slight crispy. Drain and set aside, covered.
  
• Heat 2 tblsp of olive oil in a pan. Add the onions, saute till translucent.
• Add the tindora and the chillies. Add the crushed mustard seeds and the cumin powder and a pinch of salt. Also add couple of tblsp of the blanching water to the pan to cook the spices.
• Saute for 5-7 min till the water evaporates and the tindora looks shiny and crispy.
• Serve immediately with rice.**

Hints:
* If using green beans instead of tindora, do not cut the beans in half. Just cut the tips and keep them whole. You can also use a mixture of green and yellow beans to give the dish a vibrant colour.
**This dish is very sensitive to timing, so do not cook more than required for the current meal, as the left-overs taste pretty dull.