Thursday, March 20, 2014

WAR WITH RAW ~ ASH GOURD SALAD FOR ENFF

Tried and tasted by Nivedita
 Hi All,
Are you thinking I have gone RAW? ;-), But when I think of Nutritious food, only raw food comes in my mind. Its natural and its directly prepared by God. Am I right?
Today I am introducing you our king of raw food, King of Vegetables; ASH GOURD. Don't get confused with Aishwarya Rai Bachhan. I am talking about Natural beautiful vegetable.
Enough of jokes now.
I never knew the benefits about this veggie, I always saw this was used during poojas at home especially on house warming day. And I really thought that only Brahmins(or who comes for doing puja)  should eat it. That is how it was, after puja they used to take it home.
Only after I joined SSY course, I realized the importance of its benefits. From then, it has become a part of my menu in some or the other way. I wait to use this in my preparation
I make juice with it, I make salad with it, I add it in sambhar, I make ash gourd fry.... The list goes on.
But,
Taking it in the morning in the form of  juice  by adding the equal quantity of water to it is the best for many healthy reasons. Season it with very little salt and pepper(optional). (This and beetroot juice are too potent to be taken alone and need to be diluted with equal quantity of water)

I have a 2 page notes on its benefits which I took it during my course.
I tried to find out the benefits of this from net, because its the evidence to prove my love for this veggie.




Coming to today's recipe,
Its simple, easy and healthy and NUTRITIOUS. So what are you waiting for?
Ingredients:
Ash gourd - 1 cup, cleaned, peeled, de seeded
Cucumber - 1 small, cleaned and peeled
Fresh yogurt or curds - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - 1 tsp or chopped 

For temepering:
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
a dash of hing
Curry leaves few
Urad dal - 1 tsp(optional)
Red dry chilly - 1 cut into small pieces




Method:
  • Take one cup ash gourd. Either grate it or churn it in a mixer just for half a minute. I prefer the latter one.
  • Keep it aside.
  • Cut the cucumber in to small cubes.
  • Take yogurt in a serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to it. Mix well. Add the ash gourd and cucumber. Mix well and refrigerate for some time(if you have)
  • Till that,
  • heat oil in a small pan.
  • Add the mustard seeds and allow to splutter.
  • Add urad dal and allow to change the color.
  • Add curry leaves, hind and red dry chilly.
  • Remove from the heat and allow it to cool.
  • Add it to the ready salad.
  • Serve cold with chapati or rice.

  • The other day I had it with khara pongal :-)
WILL COME WITH DIFFERENT NUTRITIOUS FOOD IN THE NEXT POST FOR THIS EVENT. (THIS TIME NOT RAW FOR SURE)







Keep Smiling,

13 comments:

Hasna said...

i ddn kno tht ash gourd could be eaten raw... nice one Nivedita

divya said...

wow...very healthy n delicious...

Hayley said...

ash gourd can be eaten RAW..?new to me..looks so tasty :)

anusia said...

This is completely a new item for me. I must try it someday to taste it.

Vidya Narayan said...

In a salad form, I never knew ash gourd is consumed. We south indians usually use it for most of our gravy preparations and even the sambar. This is really good.

mildly indian said...

Yummm. Love the way you have explained

Freda said...

I'd like to try this salad:) It's pretty new to me. It looks great!

Unknown said...

This is totally new dish for me. Looks very interesting

Unknown said...

Wow.... Sounds and looks delicious.

Nisha said...

Never had this raw but I like this veggie a lot. Be it in Sambhar or kootu, I always prefer this. Should try this pachadi. Nice recipe.

jayashree said...

I have never tried eating it raw, shall try it. This is new to me. Nice share.

Ruchi's Veg Kitchen said...

It's very much new to me but definitely wanna try .. sounds delicious

Padmajha said...

This is one of the best ways to eat ash gourd. Love it!

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