Chirongi nuts. They are similar to pine nuts and are small, rounded nuts resembling Egyptian lentils. They are used in India to garnish halvas, cakes and creams and in puddings and pillaos.
Indian spinach. This is most likely to be Basella alba, a tropical climbing plant that can grow as high as 2 meters (6 ft), the leaves being harvested as the plant grows and cooked in the same way as spinach or stewed in oil with spices. It is a type of amaranth, which includes many varieties of a sweetish green leafy vegetable known by many different names, including callalloo, elephant’s ear, African/Ceylon/ Chinese/Indian spinach, Surinam amaranth, etc.
Sapodilla. A fruit which can be round or oval. Its thin skin is slightly rough and the flesh is dull, beige to terra cotta in colour and slightly granular with flat black seeds. Peel the skin away to reveal the apricot-coloured, honey-flavoured flesh. If it is eaten slightly under-ripe it may leave a residue of gum in the mouth. This can be dispelled by eating something fatty or wiping the lips with butter. One variety provides the gum for chewing gum.
Rolled dough cut into sections and deep fried and iced with sugar mixed with cardamon powder. Good with a cool drink of badami halu. An excellent recipe appears at http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2006/06/29/chiroti/.
