PUMPKIN MASOOR SOUP

Masoor dal along with pumpkin makes a very tasty, healthy soup. It is simple, easy to make and healthy too.

Pumpkin is  one of the very low calorie vegetables and contains no saturated fats or cholesterol; However, it is rich in dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins. The vegetable is one of the food items recommended by dieticians in cholesterol controlling and weight reduction programs. Pumpkin is a storehouse of many anti-oxidant vitamins such as vitamin-A, vitamin-C and vitamin-E.

Masoor daal is used in every household to make curries or sambar. It is a very common lentil and easily available as well. Masoor daal cooks very fast and does not need any kind of soaking before cooking it. Even tough people may treat it as a simple lentil; it has many properties which are good for health. People who are pure vegetarians can eat this lentil everyday. They will get the same amount of strength that non-vegetarian people have.

Many times we see that people complain about having less blood in their body.

Pumpkin masoor soup

Let us look at the recipe now:

Total time taken: 45 minutes

serves: four

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pumpkin cubes

1/4 cup masoor dal

Black pepper powder, chaat masala, black salt, normal salt, blob of butter etc. as per your choice

Fried bread cubes

Method:

1.  Wash massoor dal properly.

2.  Wash the pumpkin pieces too

3.  Pressure cook the same in  two cups of water for 3 whistles.

4.  When the pressure comes down, remove it from the cooker and mash it very well or 5.  5.  You can put it in the mixer and pulse it for a minute. adjust the consistency of the soup by additing hot water in it,   If need be.

6.  Put the soup in kadai, make it hot add the salt and masalas of your choice.   Serve hot in bowl with fried bread cubes and butter.

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Culinary

 Doctors recommend some medicines which will increase the blood and red blood cells in the body for such people. Instead of eating those medicines such a person can have curry made of masoor dal twice a week and they would never complain of less blood. This lentil is good as a remedy when a person is facing dysenteryproblems. Masoor daal is good for the excretory system and helps keeping it clean. It is good for people facing illnesses due to impure blood.

Masoor daal reduces the growth of cough in the lungs and helps reduce acidity as well. Soup made of this lentil is given to a patient suffering from fever. It will give strength to the body of the patient as well as keep the blood pure. People who have piles and bleed as lot during excretion should definitely have masoor daal. It will help reduce this problem.

Our daily diet can include a bowl of lentil soup everyday. This will increase the protein content in our body and make us healthy and fit. Masoor daal will also help increase the digestion rate. Many Indian recipes are made using masoor daal.

Cosmetic

Powder made from masoor daal should be used instead of soap for infants and children. This helps restore the moisture in the skin of children. It brings a glow to skin and prevents it from cracking in the winter season. It is used as a face pack when people have very oily skin. It reduces the oil produced from the skin and helps reduce acne and pimples. It also prevents itching of skin.

Health benefits of pumpkin

• With 7384 mg per 100 g, it is one of the vegetables in the Cucurbitaceae family featuring highest levels of vitamin-A, providing about 246% of RDA. Vitamin A is a powerful natural anti-oxidant and is required by the body for maintaining the integrity of skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin for good visual sight. Research studies suggest that natural foods rich in vitamin A help a body protects against lung and oral cavity cancers.
• It is also an excellent source of many natural poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds such as α, ß carotenes, cryptoxanthin, lutein and zea-xanthin. Carotenes convert into vitamin A inside the body.
• Zea-xanthin is a natural anti-oxidant which has UV (ultra-violet) rays filtering actions in the macula lutea in retina of the eyes. Thus, it helps protect from "age-related macular disease" (ARMD) in the elderly.
• The fruit is a good source of B-complex group of vitamins like folates, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin and pantothenic acid.
• It is also rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium and phosphorus.