Taro. Colocasia. A plant grown both for its leaves and tuberous, potato-like roots, or corms. The roots, the flesh of which may vary from white to pink, have a delicate flavour and can be peeled and boiled, roasted, mashed, fried or included in a stew.e flesh of which may vary from white to pink, have a delicate flavour and can be peeled and boiled, roasted, mashed, fried or included in a stew. This word is commonly used to mean potato, but the ubiquity of this root does mean that occasionally it goes by the same name.
Indian plum or ber. A plum-like fruit which is a small, sweet, reddish-black berry which fruits during the monsoon. The term is also used to describe a type of pantua, a confection which is fried to resemble this berry. There are sweet versions (narkel kul) and sour versions (topa kul). The latter are used to make pickles and chutneys.
Taro. Colocasia. A plant grown both for its leaves and tuberous, potato-like roots, or corms. The roots, the flesh of which may vary from white to pink, have a delicate flavour and can be peeled and boiled, roasted, mashed, fried or included in a stew.e flesh of which may vary from white to pink, have a delicate flavour and can be peeled and boiled, roasted, mashed, fried or included in a stew.
Tamarind. A sour-sweet fruit, sometimes known as the Indian date, used as a souring agent. It comes in long, dry brown pods which look almost like dried broad bean pods. Inside is a long, segmented fruit, like a long brown caterpillar. Each segment contains a hard, shiny black seed. As the pods dry the fruit becomes sweeter. A visitor from Mauritius suggested shaking the tamarind and, if you could hear that the fruit had detached and was rattling a little inside the pod, you would find that the fruit was sweet. All you need to do is to remove the pod and then chew the fruit, discarding the seeds. It is also available mashed and formed into a pulpy block or as a juice. In this form it is used like lemon juice.
Mango powder. A very sour flavouring agent with a slightly fruit flavour made from dried under-ripe mangoes, rather similar to tamarind in cooking.
Mango powder. A very sour flavouring agent with a slightly fruit flavour made from dried under-ripe mangoes, rather similar to tamarind in cooking.
