Locally, it goes by various names like “Turai” in Hindi, “Jhinge” in Bengali, “Beerakaya” in Telugu and “Peerkangaai” in Tamil. It is a green fleshy vegetable, commonly used to prepare many regular dishes such as pakoras, sambhar, dal, chutney and raita, after being seasoned with spices, to enhance its flavour.
You could try:
- Making a ridge gourd raita.
- Curry could be made out of ridge gourd as well. Fry some onions, tomatoes, garlic with some salt and chilli powder. Add some cubed ridge gourd and let it cook on a simmering flame until done.
- Add some chopped ridge gourd to your regular dal or sambar as a tasty and nutritious addition.
- It can be cut into slices, dipped in a besan batter seasoned with salt and pepper, and fried like pakoras.
- A tasty, appetizing, and healthy chutney can be made out of ridge gourd as well.
Benefits:
- Comprises abundant volumes of water. In addition, it is abundant in cellulose, a natural dietary fibre. Therefore, consuming ridge gourd provides relief from constipation, besides restoring normal bowel movement and digestion.
- significant amounts of vitamin A.
- low-calorie count and the antioxidant properties of ridge gourd make it a good option in diabetes management.
