Ash gourd spiced buttermilk - White pumpkin or winter melon spiced buttermilk - Poosanikkai buttermilk - Ash gourd coolant

White pumpkin or Ash gourd has many health benefits. It has an important place in our Ayurvedic medicine.

Ash gourd is rich in water, vitamins B, C, other minerals, and fiber. Buttermilk is rich in calcium and other minerals. Ash gourd with buttermilk and a few other spices is very good for digestion and aids in peptic ulcer.

It reduces excess heat in our body and can be taken as a mid-day drink.

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.

Pulinkari - Kerala style simple Pulinkari - Thenga aracha kuzhambu

Pulinkari, as the name implies, is a tasty and tangy curry for rice, made using Puli or tamarind with vegetables and coconut. There are a few variations of this curry.  

Today, as eating patterns change, these traditional vegetarian recipes are gradually disappearing from Palakkad Iyer's kitchen. Some of the vegetarian recipes are in need of revival.

Here I have narrated Drumstick pulinkari.

Ridge gourd skin thogayal - Peerkangai thol thogayal

Ridge gourd, as we all know, is a common vegetable. It can be easily cultivated at home. 

This vegetable is rich in dietary fiber. The inner soft part is used to make sambar, kootu and I have used the skin to make thogayal. 

Thogayals are coarsely ground. Normally, it is a mix for plain rice, along with gingelly oil.

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.