Paknam largely comsume by Manipuri people made out of various ingredients in various form using various vegetable. Here I am making paknam using bottle gourd cover.

Calabash also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, New Guinea bean and Tasmania bean, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed as a vegetable, or harvested mature to be dried and used as a utensil, container, or a musical instrument. When it is fresh, the fruit has a light green smooth skin and white flesh.

Health benefits of the humble bottle gourd or ‘lauki’

The benefits of green vegetables need no retelling. One such healthy vegetable is bottle gourd (popularly referred to as lauki or kaddu). Known by different names like calabash, white-flowered gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean and long melon, it has a host of benefits. Not only does it have a cooling effect in the body, but is quite beneficial for the heart and even helps reduce sleeping disorders.

They come in a variety of shapes: huge and round, small and bottle shaped, or slim and serpentine, and they can grow to be over a metre long. Here are a few health benefits that you must tap into by including the green vegetable in delicious delicacies.

Reduces stress
Eating lauki can help in reducing stress. Its water content has a cooling impact on the body. It also has sedative properties and relaxes the body.

Benefits the heart
Lauki is also extremely beneficial for the heart. Drinking its juice at least thrice every week will help you in maintaining a healthy heart and will also keep a check on your blood pressure.

Helps in weight loss
For those looking to lose weight, drinking lauki juice can prove to be very useful. Filled with iron, vitamins and potassium, having lauki juice everyday will help you reduce weight.

Helps in treating sleeping disorders
Among other benefits of lauki, it also helps in treating sleep disorders. Ideally mix some sesame oil with the lauki juice and you will sleep better.

Prevents premature greying of hair
Owing to pollution, premature greying of hair has emerged as a nagging problem across the globe. Drinking a glass of lauki juice everyday can help you retain the colour and texture of hair.

Helps in digestion
The humble lauki also helps in digestion. Rich in fiber and alkali content, it helps in treating acidity.