Can you think of at least five ingredients or food items that match each of the tastes listed below? Write them down in the spaces provided.
Sweet: Jaggery, sugar, honey, banana, mango, dates. Sour: Tamarind, lemon, orange, curd, tomato, amla. Salty: Salt, namkeen, chips, pickle, papad, sea salt. Pungent: Green chilli, red chilli, black pepper, ginger, garlic, mustard. Bitter: Neem, bitter gourd, fenugreek, turmeric, leafy greens. Astringent: Raw mango, turmeric, tea leaves, unripe banana, pomegranate.
Explanation
The chapter introduces the six tastes known as 'shad rasa' in Ayurveda - sweet (meetha), sour (khatta), salty (namkeen), pungent (teekha), bitter (karva), and astringent (kasaila). The example given in the table shows: Sweet - Jaggery, Sour - Tamarind, Salty - Salt, Pungent - Green chilli, Bitter - Neem, Astringent - Raw mango. Students need to identify five ingredients for each taste category.