Cauliflower

Come winter and cauliflowers flood the vegetable markets. This favourite vegetable of all of us occupies a considerable space in the fridge. Call it by any name cauliflower, broccoli or gobhi but this wonderful veggie doesn’t change its nutrient giving niceness. Including cauliflower in your diet is like having a real good supply of nutrients for yourself as it is a good source of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre.

Though the leaves are edible, normally only the florets are used in cooking. Cauliflower can be stored for about five days in refrigerator. People do preserve slightly blanched florets in deep freezer throughout the year.

It can be combined with many vegetables such as potato, carrot, green peas, tomato, cheese, onion etc., to enhance the taste. To reduce the odour of cauliflower spices such as ginger or azwain are added. There are a variety of pickles that are made out of this vegetable.

Why you should stack up gobhi in your refrigerator

•  This food is very low in saturated fats and cholesterol.
•  Cauliflower is very alkaline in nature and acts as a great blood purifier. It has a cleansing effect on the intestine and mucous membrane.
•  Vitamin C required for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of our body and necessary for the formation of important protein collagen, skin and other tissues is abundantly found in cauliflower. This vegetable is next only to citrus fruit when it comes to Vitamin C. Three florets of cauliflower a day provides 67 per cent of our daily Vitamin C requirement.
•  An excellent source of fibre, cauliflower also improves colon health.
•  Our exposure to unwanted toxins through our lifestyle can place our bodies at increased risk of toxin related damage. This in turn increases the cells risk of becoming cancerous. This is one of the reasons we should bring cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables in our diet on a regular basis as it also helps prevent cancer. The phyto chemicals called indoles, present in cauliflower stimulate enzymes that block cancer growth and make cauliflower, natural cancer fighter.
•  It also gives support to our digestive system. The fibre in the cauliflower helps cleanse the digestive system and also gets rid of waste substances.
•  Folate in cauliflower helps in proper tissue growth.
• Consuming raw cauliflower also gives you many nutritional benefits. Drink half glass of cauliflower juice before going to bed at night to counter constipation. Raw cauliflower also cures piles and vomiting.
•  Its anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial properties make it effective in preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
•  The anti-inflammatory properties of cauliflower may be able to prevent blood vessel damage.
•  Cauliflower contains sulphur that helps combat a variety of ailments such as itchy skin and leprosy. The phyto-nutrients in cauliflower release the sulphur contents when heated. One should minimise the cooking time to reduce the odour of sulphur, retain the crisp texture of the vegetable and also to reduce the nutrient loss.
• Vitamin K is one of the several compounds essential for the formation of blood clot. In case of injury, people with Vitamin K deficiency suffer from excessive bleeding, because the low levels of Vitamin K in their body prevent proper clot formation. One can overcome this deficiency by including cauliflower in one’s diet.

 By Nibhanapudi Suguna