winter melon

 

Introduction-

 Open the section by mentioning ash gourd also known as winter melon or wax gourd or Vellai Pooosanikai, and introduce this drink as a mild and watery beverage that can add to a healthy eating routine, but avoid calling it a miracle drink or the ultimate nutrient dense juice without proof. Give the article an indication of where it's heading, with tips on potential advantages, ease of preparation, best times to consume and cautions in intake.

What Is Ash Gourd Juice And What Is Inside? 

- Explain clearly, what an ash gourd actually is and differentiate between its edible flesh and waxy exterior. State that the gourd is a light, watery fruit, low in calories and consisting of minuscule amounts of nutrients, and that nutrient levels vary, in the drink and in servings. Avoid unrealistic claims as the juice is not a supplement in place of vegetables, whole foods or medication.
Health Benefits you might gain through ash gourd juice- Discuss these while carefully using qualifying words like "may support" or "can contribute to". Focus on adding fluid to your diet through this naturally high water drink; suggest it is "lighter" than sweet, bottled beverages, and link its plant compounds to "antioxidant support". Explain how it "may aid digestion" if eaten as part of a fiber-rich whole food diet. 

Do not encourage its consumption with promises that it aids weight loss or "detoxifies" the body, nor claim that it controls diabetes or protects from cancers.

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Hydration And As a Low-Calorie Beverage Option- 

Explain here why its high water content is a benefit to those wishing to increase hydration, and suggest that compared to sugary options, the freshly extracted unsweetened drink makes a relatively healthier option to include. Make it abundantly clear that plain water should remain the body’s preferred source of hydration and that adding sweetener compromises its healthful components.
What are the nutrient/antioxidant claims all about?- Simply illustrate, at a basic level, what antioxidants are, and caution readers not to assume they cure diseases, simply because research points to some effect in laboratory tests or tradition points to it. Emphasize that it is only one part of an overall 'whole food' eating habit.

Home preparation of fresh ash gourd juice- 

Provide an easy to follow, step-by-step recipe focusing on using fresh ash gourd, ensuring you detail cleaning of the gourd; removal of the thick waxy peel, the inner pulp and the seeds, cutting the gourd flesh into smaller pieces, blending it with a small quantity of water and finally either consuming as is or straining. It is always advisable to make and drink the fresh, unsweetened juice immediately, and as optional suggestions include lemon, ginger, or mint flavoring but with a strong caution against adding a lot of sweetners like sugar, syrups etc. Health and safety aspects of food preparation including the importance of using clean tools and crockery, refrigerated storage anddiscarding after an unusual smell or a change in consistency should also be outlined.

A simple serving size and food ingredients choice-

Bunch of gourds

 Offer suggestions for beginner serving sizes, for example around one-half to one cup, and inform them it is acceptable to consume this, and for experienced users, it should be understood that serving size is relative to individual calorie and food intake. It is clearly mentioned that the article should not offer any 'rule' for serving size but it should be personalized.
When to consume and cautions while taking this drink- Make it evident that there is no specific magic timing to consume the drink, and say that it might be more agreeable to take the juice either with a meal or between meal times depending on a person's body or personal feelings but reiterate that taking it at dawn is not a sacred medical directive. Explicitly warn users of raw juice contamination, potential gastrointestinal upsets and allergic reactions to anything in the preparation, and further highlight the impact of this drink on the blood sugar level for people taking medication. Individuals who are either pregnant or breast feeding, a child of any age, someone in advanced years or with complications and complex health conditions in addition to any sort of digestive conditions should only take it after having discussed it thoroughly with the doctor who treats them or an experienced clinician of some form. Warn users that they should discontinue with the drinking should they see any symptoms.

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Medication and Medical Illness requiring specific attention-

 Remind diabetics to monitor their blood glucose levels on a daily basis and suggest they discuss increased consumption with the medical practitioner under their care and that people suffering from kidney or hepatic related illness and people on fluid restriction orders should be especially careful not to consume excess liquid that isn't recommended for their medical condition. Remind the readers that fresh, made-to-order juice can vary significantly in terms of concentration, strength of vitamins and minerals and interaction with specific types of food and prescribed medicines and that it cannot be replaced by or substituted with prescribed medication. Also it is implied strongly that people should not taste any sort of bitterly flavored gourds thinking they have the similar kind of benefit from an ash gourd and have been encouraged to check the original gourd for toxicity levels before consumption.
Conclusion- Clearly summarize and reinforce the advantages and the safe way to consume the freshly prepared, unsweetened drink. State again, its usefulness as a liquid, low calorie option that may contribute to a varied and healthy food pattern, but always reiterate not to have exaggerated hopes of it curing any disease when health issues or medicines are in picture, and always seek advice from medical practitioners whenever necessary before regularly using this as part of a daily diet plan, or if used before for its properties by previous generations for reasons which are likely based more on tradition rather than strict clinical observation.

Recipe 

Kootu South Indian Style: One of the most important dishes of the South Indian cuisine. It is basically a vegetable and lentil dish mostly eaten as a side dish along with rice and other accompaniments. The texture it has, is one among the many we have in savory preparations. Cooked up vegetables along with the lentil base gives an out-of-the-world experience.

Chopping vegetable

Ingredients
* 500 grams White pumpkin peeled and diced (cubes the size of your thumb nail)
* 1/4 cup Toor dal
* 2 tablespoons Chana dal
* 1 medium tomato
* 1/2 cup Grated coconut
* 5 Dried red chilies (adjust according to your spice preference)
* 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
* 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
* Salt to taste
* Asafoetida, a pinch
Tempering
* 1 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
* 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon Urad dal
* 1 Dried red chili broken into two pieces
* 5 Curry leaves
* 1 medium onion chopped fine (optional)
Preparation Notes
* Soaking the Dal: Toor dal need be soaked only for about 10 minutes. Chana dal should be soaked for a good hour.
* White Pumpkin: Ash gourd or Poosanikkai cooking requires that the vessel size should not be very large otherwise you'll end up with extra water that needs to be boiled off. Use just enough water for the dals to cook well.
* Variation: If you don't have toor dal handy, use moong dal, it makes for a very soft version but might just break completely when cooked.
* Garlic flavor: Though not a traditional addition, I found the kootu to be more flavorful adding about 4-5 cloves of garlic while cooking the toor dal.
How to cut White Pumpkin to have just about the right cooked texture
White pumpkin/ash gourd is made of about 90% water. For uniform cooking and desired texture, try to peel the skin. Some varieties have a white spongy center which needs to be removed or it will prevent cooking and might take a strange slimy texture once cooked so make sure you have scraped this part with a spoon after peeling off the green/white skin. Cut the ash gourd into cubes that are not too big because it is easier to cook the small pieces with the lentil.
Step by Step Instruction
To cook Toor Dal
1. Wash the toor dal thoroughly under running water for about 5-10 minutes till the water runs clean and not cloudy anymore. Drain the soaking water.
2. Put the washed toor dal along with about 1 and 1/4 cups of water. Along with 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric and the garlic cloves (if using).
3. Pressure cook for three to four whistles over medium heat till the dal is soft and mushy and breaks easily when you press against the spoon. It is the key to getting soft dals for the kootu consistency. Let the cooker depressurize completely on its own.
To cook Chana dal with white pumpkin
4. Soaked the chana dal in clean water for a good hour. Drain the water.
5. Put the chana dal along with the cubed ash gourd and a little bit more turmeric in a vessel (not a pressure cooker), cover it with the water from the last rinse of toor dal if using, if not just use clean water and also add enough to just cover the pumpkin cubes and the chana dal. Add salt here too.
6. Cover the vessel and cook on low heat until the pumpkin just comes off from the seeds and becomes soft without become gooey and chana dal should be completely cooked. It should take 20 to 25 min.
To make the coconut masala.
7. In the grinder add, dried red chilies, jeera and grated coconut and some water (barely 2 tablespps) and grind to form a thick paste..do not add so much water, otherwise the paste would become very fine and you would not get the hoteltexture.

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To combine everything together
8. As soon as the ash gourd becomes tender, and it is just beginning to break up; add the tomato, the ground coconut masala, the cooked toor dal, asafoetida and salt to taste. Be sure if you have added salt to the ash gourd!
9. Stir well gently, taking care not to break the bits of gourd further; allow to simmer over a medium-low flame for another 4-5 minutes with the lid removed, so as to evaporate the coconut milk from the ground coconut mixture. The kootu will continue to seem a bit wet while it is hot but will have a thicker consistence as it cools. Tempering. 10. In a separate small kadai, heat the ghee or oil, add the mustard seeds; when they splutter add the urad dal, a broken red chilli and then the curry leaves and if you so wish the chopped onion. 11. Sauté till the urad dal is lightly golden and the onions are light golden too. Do not let them get burnt. 12. Pour this tempering on the finished kootu, mix well and cover and set it aside for a few minutes before serving.

Tips for cream and tastepoosanikkai kootu
* For best creamy consistency in Poosanikkai Kootu don't boil too much water to cook the vegetables. A good way to maintain that creaminess is by adding minimal water just enough to cook the raw materials while keeping the consistency a little on the loose side after adding.
* To avoid burning the coconut masala while you are heating the mixture add about 1 tablespoon of the cooked toor dal to the hot coconut masala for cooking with less or no extra oil. It will give you even much of creaminess, I did not add onion to my recipe which resulted from adding cooked toor dal to the coconut masala mixture for further cooking to get that hotel style creaminess.
* This Kootu can be very easily made watery, thus it's important to cook until any residual water starts to evaporate.

Winter melon at market

Dal variations and usage
Both Toor Dal, and Chana Dal can be used in this recipe. Toor Dal and Chana Dal combination provides the best texture while as when it's only Toor Dal, the consistency will be a bit runnier and when you use a blend of Toor Dal and Moong Dal, it might even give a totally mashed up texture. If you want to make it a complete vegetable dish, then take a handful of grated coconut to give it that complete home cooking flair.
Customizing Your Recipe
If you don't want the recipe to be too spicy then reduce the dried red chilies or have it for yourself before adding chilies, or just roast the chilies a bit longer. If you think the recipe is getting a little dry adjust with 2-3 spoons of plain hot water. If it gets a little runnier or watery, then keep simmering on a low heat without covering it will have to become less for sometime while and will thicken again.
What to eat white pumpkin kootu with
White pumpkin kootu can be eaten hot with Plain White rice along with a dash of Ghee and perhaps with some spicy Kara Kuzhambu or Vatha Kuzhambu or even Chapati.