Sponge gourd. Smooth gourd. When it is old it becomes coarse and fibrous and is actually the loofah you use in the bath. However, it is eaten throughout Asia. It resembles a cucumber when it is young and needs to be salted to reduce the bitterness before use.

Indian plum or ber. A small red black berry which fruits during the monsoon. It is the sour version of narkel kul, which is used most often to make chutneys and pickles.

Cow dung cakes used as fuel for fires.

A sweetmeat, ubiquitous throughout India, of sweetened, coloured squares of besan flour.

Small, fried savoury drops made from gramflour or besan.

Bread made from gram flour, the fine, pale yellow chickpea (US: garbanzo bean) flour made from channa dhal (the ones which resemble yellow split lentils).