A name given to jambu, many juicy, thirst-quenching fruits. They have diverse appearances and differ in size. The most commonly available is the bright red wax jambu or water roseapple. The variety with the most flavour is about the size of an apple, white with a pink blush on the riper side. The flesh is also white and slightly sweet. This is Siddharth Dasgupta's favourite fruit of all.
A traditional sweet consisting of gram lentils, jaggery, coconut, cardamom, cashew nuts and raisins cooked in ghee, served at the Onam feast in Kerala.
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.
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.
