My Vegetable seller

He is young and bright and he has a stall just off the road on the way home.Now that the rains have come in such abundance you can see the gains on his stall.  What is lovely is that there is so much on offer that I often buy far more than I need but they look fresh and enticing and I am curious about each and every one of them though I have NO IDEA what some of them are.

These are beautifully arranged lemons and baby Brinjhals
But what is this below complete with fly on it ?
This I now know is called Tinda and is the Indian round gourd.
Some form of courgette ? I understand from an Indian friend who corrected the other indian friend that this is not a snake gourd but a ridge gourd. Oh dear I really feel I dont know my gourds very well at all !
Prickly cucumber ? I now know this is the famous bitter gourd or Karela. Great for your health, particularly if you are a diabetic but not very nice tasting.
Dried roots ? No, these are Bhen or Lotus roots. A friend has suggested cutting them in rounds, soaking in water and lemon juice, boiling to soften and then baking in the oven to make chips. Yum.

8 responses to “My Vegetable seller”

  1. avatar
    Anonymous

    The first one is the Tinda.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TindaThe second is the Snake Gourd.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichosanthes_cucumerinaThe third one is knows as the Karela in India. Also called bitter gourd. Very very good for diabetics.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KarelaThe fourth one is called Bhen in India. It's also called the Lotus Stem. Very good for people with osteoporosis and weak bones. Couldn't find a Wiki page for it though. Sorry. I could also tell you how to cook all of these except the second one. We don't cook that in my house.

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  2. avatar
    Anonymous

    The Tinda doesn't really have any medicinal properties that I know of, it's a good summer vegetable. It can be steam cooked or shallow fried in an open skillet or pan.

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  3. avatar
    Anonymous

    Hey that is so nice of you to send me the names and the references as well. Much appreciated ! MM

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  4. avatar
    Anonymous

    The last one is lotus root. Get a flawless one, cut into rounds, soak in water with a bit of lemon juice, boil a bit, then oven bake for crispy chips. (A lot of work but worth it.) The knobbly one is bitter gourd (karela), which tastes horrid but is extremely healthy. I sometimes juice it with an apple. But it's not tasty, not one bit.

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  5. avatar
    Anonymous

    Thanks Aarti, always something new – will give bitter gourd a miss, mercifully health ok for now and concentrate on the unhealthy things like chips !! See you soon. X MM

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  6. avatar
    Anonymous

    I love to see local guys get covered.. they're the ones who bring out food to us, and their importance should never be underestimated.

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  7. avatar
    Anonymous

    Shaheen I couldnt agree more so that is where I go for my fruit and veg !! MM

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  8. avatar
    Anonymous

    It is not snake gourd, it is ridge gourd.http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2005/06/meet-ridge-gourd.html

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