Teasle gourd or spiny bitter gourd. This is a small egg-shaped vegetable, highly prized on the Indian subcontinent. It is prickly and green to yellow in colour, and having a long stem. It is not commonly available, and only during the rainy months. There is a wild variety, Momordica cochinchinensis, which is usually red in colour. The vegetable is rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron and carotene. They are either fried or included in fish or meat stews or served mashed with green chillis and mustard oil.
Teasle gourd or spiny bitter gourd. This is a small egg-shaped vegetable, highly prized on the Indian subcontinent. It is prickly and green to yellow in colour, and having a long stem. It is not commonly available, and only during the rainy months. There is a wild variety, Momordica cochinchinensis, which is usually red in colour. The vegetable is rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron and carotene. They are either fried or included in fish or meat stews or served mashed with green chillis and mustard oil.
Split black gram lentil. Hulled, it is a creamy white, which is why it is sometimes called white gram.
Nigella. The small, black, bitter seeds of a relative of "love-in-a-mist". Nigella is often incorrectly called wild onion seed or black onion seed. The seeds have a sharp, pungent flavour with a hint of a smell of strawberries and are used for flavouring confectionary and liquors.
Black peppercorns, the fruit of a perennial vine with large leaves and white flowers. Green peppercorns are the unripe fruits picked early and pickled. Black peppercorns are picked just before they ripen and white peppercorns are the ripe, black peppercorns with the black skin flaked off. They are best kept whole and ground when required. Historically, pepper was one of the world's most important spices. Columbus sailed West, not East, in search of pepper in the East Indies. Instead he found the Americas and allspice.
Nigella. The small, black, bitter seeds of a relative of "love-in-a-mist". Nigella is often incorrectly called wild onion seed or black onion seed. The seeds have a sharp, pungent flavour with a hint of a smell of strawberries and are used for flavouring confectionary and liquors.
