Sweet potato porial, Boiled Sweet potato curry with coconut, Sweet potato recipe

Sweet potato, a sweet tasting root vegetable, is rich in carbohydrate, dietary fiber,  Vitamins A, B5, B6, and Manganese.

Sweet potatoes with dark orange flesh have more beta-carotene (a precursor of vitamin A) than those with the lighter colored flesh.

Although the leaves and shoots are also edible, we Indians, mainly consume the tuberous root. It is best to consume sweet potatoes by baking them without losing the nutrients.

Here we go with a simple baked sweet potato curry.

Ingredients:

Sweet potatoes - 4 or 5 nos
(Medium sized)
Coconut oil - 2 tsps
Coconut (grated)  - 4 tsps

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Salt - a little

Curry leaves

Preparation:

Wash the potatoes thoroughly in water. Bake them with salt.

You can consume it with the skin itself, as it becomes very soft after baking. Here I have removed the skin.

Cut them into cubes.

In a kadai, add coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds, add asafoetida, red chili powder, curry leaves. 

Now add the sweet potatoes, grated coconut, and stir it softly.

Very tasty sweet potato curry is ready to go with sambar sadham.

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Beetroot poriyal - Simple Beetroot poriyal - Beetroot stir fry

Beetroot is of exceptional nutritional value. It is an excellent source of folic acid and a very good source of fiber. 

It is low in fat, full of vitamins and minerals and packed with antioxidants.

Beetroot poriyal is a quick stir fry recipe. It is prepared with a few ingredients,  a nice side dish for rice with sambar and rasam.

Kappa puzhukku - Kerala Kappa puzhukku recipe - Cassava recipe

Kappa puzhukku is a traditional recipe of Kerala. Kappa or Cassava root, known as Maravalli kizhangu in Tamil is a good source of carbohydrate. 

It is a basic food like rice, mostly served along with Thenga chammandi (Coconut or Thenga thogayal).  It makes a good breakfast with kattan chaya (black tea). It can also be taken as a side dish.

Potato fry - Easy and simple potato fry - Potato fry with a little oil recipe

Potatoes are liked by everyone. 

We know they are rich in carbohydrates. So, those who are in a diet plan, exclude potatoes.

Potatoes can easily be a part of a healthy diet, based on how we prepare it.

By the way of steaming or boiling the potatoes for a fry, we can reduce the amount of oil added to prepare the recipe. Here is one such simple recipe of potato fry.

Pumpkin olan - Mathanga olan - Simple olan recipe

Olan is a very simple, and a traditional recipe of Kerala. 

It is a delicious dish prepared with coconut milk. There are no spices, yet it is very tasty. 

Normally, Black eyed peas (Karamani) is added along with Pumpkin and Ash gourd.  Also, taro root (chembu or sepan kizhangu) with yellow pumpkin is another good combination to make olan.  

Here I have prepared a plain yellow pumpkin olan. 

Ridge gourd kootu - Peerkangai kootu recipe

Ridge gourd recipes are a good accompaniment for rice, chappati, idli, and dosa. 

Ridge gourd kootu and thogayal go well with rice, whereas Ridge gourd curry made with moong dal goes well with chappati, idly and dosa.

Here we see how to prepare ridge gourd kootu, as a side dish for rice.

Capsicum or Bell pepper curry, Simple Capsicum curry

Capsicum is a vegetable with an abundant source of vitamin C. It also holds a few more vitamins and minerals and dietary fiber. 

The best way to get the nutrients from a vegetable is to limit the use of water while cooking the vegetable. Steaming is the best method to retain the nutrients. 

This simple and very easy Capsicum curry is prepared without water. 

Cabbage thoran - Cabbage stir fry - Cabbage poriyal

Cabbage is a low calorie, fiber-rich, leafy vegetable.

It is a storehouse of many essential vitamins and minerals.

Here we are going to see Cabbage thoran. Thorans have a place in the everyday lunch menu of Kerala.

Cabbage thoran is a common and frequently made one.

It is a healthy and delicious recipe and also easy to make.

Moringa - Drumstick leaves kootu - Murugai keerai kootu - Moringa leaves stew

Drumstick or Moringa leaves have many health benefits. It is an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals. 

Moringa is native to India and it is easily available in local vegetable markets throughout India. It is a tree that is commonly cultivated in houses.

The dried leaves can be used to make a rice mix (Muruga ela podi).  Here we are going to see Moringa leaves kootu, which is highly nutritious. It is a very healthy recipe, rich in iron, which should be consumed frequently.

Ennai kathrikkai - Stuffed Brinjal curry

Brinjal is a common vegetable, which is widely used in India.  It is also known as eggplant. 

This stuffed Brinjal curry is one the best side dishes for curd rice. This is also a good combination for rice with sambar and rasam too.

There are a few variations in this preparation. Here I have narrated a simple version that brings out soft and delicious curry.

Bitter gourd deep fry - Pavakkai fry

Bitter gourd or Pavakkai has many health benefits. Usually, we have to consume bitter gourd without losing its nutritional value. 

Normally, we prepare porial or sambar. Here for a change, we are going to prepare a deep-fry side dish, which is an excellent combination for curd rice and sambar rice. You can take this along with curd rice while traveling.

It is a very tasty and crunchy side dish, which you can prepare swiftly, with very few ingredients.

Carrot porial - Carrot stir fry

Carrot is a nutritious root vegetable. As we know well, it is a good source of vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and fiber.  It is good for our eyes and skin as it is rich in Vitamin A.

The best way to get the nutiritional values of carrot is to take it in the raw form, as a juice or as a salad.  

The nutritional benefits are lost if it is cooked for a longer time. So, here we go with a carrot stir fry, which we prepare very swiftly.

Papaya thoran - Kappalanga / Omakka thoran - Raw pappaya porial

Papaya, as we all know, is an excellent source of fiber, vitamins A, and C. It also contains vitamins E and K, potassium, and has many health benefits. 

It helps in weight loss, aids in digestion, boosts our immunity, good for diabetic patients, good for our eyes and skin. 

It is a natural cleanser. Papaya fruit is used as a face pack. So, papaya extracts are used in cosmetics.

Payaru thoran - Achinga payar thoran - Long yard beans curry - String beans curry

Achinga payar or Long yard beans or simply payaru is a common vegetable in Kerala. It needs no introduction to Keralites. It is cultivated in almost all the houses in the villages of Kerala. 

Payaru thoran is a simple, nutritious and yummy curry, which goes well with rice. 

Thorans are side dishes, with coconut and a few spices.

Gooseberry - Amla - Nellikkai thayir pachadi

Gooseberry is the nature's gift to us. It is rich in calcium and vitamins and has many health benefits. It is used in beauty products. Amla hair oil enriches hair growth.

It slows down aging, increases metabolic activity, boosts immunity and a lot more. 

Chow Chow kootu / Vegetable pear kootu

Chow chow, known as vegetable pear is a tasty vegetable, which is normally used to make sambar or kootu. 


It cooks so fastly and it is recommended to control cholesterol levels and reducing weight. 

This chow chow kootu goes well with rasam, sambar and even with chappathi.

Sundaikkai pachadi - Turkey berry pachadi

Sundaikkai (Turkey berry) is a common and easily available vegetable. It has many health benefits. 

In Tamilnadu, Sundaikkai is consumed like cooking sundaikkai sambar, pulikuzhambu, and pacchadi. 

After soaking in curd or tamarind water, it is dried and used as sundaikkai vattral, which can be consumed by roasting in oil or by cooking sundaikkai vattral pulikuzhambu.

Vazhaikkai podimas - Raw banana fry - Plantain fry

Raw banana fry is an excellent side dish for rice with sambar or rasam. Even this will go well with lemon rice, tamarind rice, and coconut rice.

In this preparation, we bake the whole banana in steam and use very little oil. 

Ingredients :

Small bananas - 2 (raw bananas)

Coconut grated - 4 or 5 tsps

Ginger - small pc (grated)

Green chili or Red Chili 

Coconut oil - 2 tsps

Bengal gram - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds

Turmeric powder
Salt

White pumpkin kootu - Ash gourd kootu

White pumpkin or Ash gourd is an easily available vegetable with lots of health benefits. 

Ash gourd is rich in water, vitamins B, C, other minerals, and fiber.  

A small cup of  Ash gourd juice with the same amount of water can be taken in the morning on an empty stomach to cure peptic ulcers. It has an important place in our Ayurvedic medicine.