Fruits of India........!!!!!

Nick-H

Carrots here are the 'usual' colour!

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dianetorre

thanks all-We'll try everything, sounds very interesting. I do know okra - seen it here in a shop but all this differente variety of fruit is not exported except mango of course which comes here from south america mostly.Anyway after all this info can't wait to try it all.

skk

OTOTOT:

Ahhh yes.. I remember asking the owner ( a member of the Marmalades ) of the Scotland Yard pub in Los Angeles to put the football on the TV, then corrected myself and said - "I mean, soccer", to which he said - "No, football". I started to correct it AGAIN, then got it


-skk

grikoo

Yeah...tea is good example, but only noticable because of it's success. They tried tremendous numbers of other crops, many of which were considered economically non-viable, but which are still grown on small scales. While the colonial empire was a bit ill-conceived, they did do some of the most important botanical work of the last couple centuries.

You mean chili peppers? Those have been around for a long time, particularly in more tropical climates.

grikoo

That was sort of my point in yesterday's post- I think you'd recognize the vast majority of vegetable crops, though as nick says broccoli is fairly rare. The current taste in veggies seems to follow the standard european selection.

Because most vegetables are annuals, and planted from seed annually, the loss of native veggie varieties occurs incredibly fast, particularly in the tropics where the ability to effectively store seed over long periods is greatly diminished. It's interesting to note that one of the only non-european vegetables that nick mentions- the drumstick- actually isn't from an annual, but a tree. This is why fruits tend to be more diverse- because their lifespan allows them to outlive cultural flux, changing tastes, etc.

suiko

Indian food must have been interesting before the arrival of the chilli (presumably from Brazil with the Portuguese in the 16th century?), don't you think?

Nick-H

Perhaps the crossover between food and medicine helps to keep some crops alive. Mrs N eats bitter gourd because it is, apparently, good for her. Certainly doesn't taste very nice!

skk

If this is :
# Kannada: h�gala k�yi
# Malayalam: kaipakka or pavakkya
# Tamil: p�kaṛk�i or pavakka
# Telugu: k�kara k�yi

then its what I know as karla(Marathi) and as bitter melon.

You'd better watch out - Its reputed to have aphrodisiac qualities

I eat it occasionally, every few month and I get it in subcontinent shops and before that used the Chinese varieties from Chinese shops and make a bhaji out of it ; though not for the aphrodisiac qualities ( no further comment from me ); really I do it just to gross out my wife, yeah juvenile I know.

-skk

jyotirmoy

The Chausa mangoes come at the end of the season the sweetest of all... feeling bad as the season is over & I don't know whether I will be there for the next season.. such is the love for mangoes

Nick-H

Well then, when Mrs N eats her bitter gourd, I'd better eat drumstick, and a good time will be guaranteed!

jyotirmoy

Dear N we have a preparation called "Sukto"

Nick-H

Is that pronounced suck toe?

Err... I think we had better get back to fruits!

jyotirmoy

Yes it is a bitter sweet stew of vegitables..

Aishah

I don't think I'd like the 'bitter' part! Yes, all mangoes now gone from here too - not a one in sight except a few hard green ones cooked as veggies or making accha pickles. They disappeared two days back - very sad.

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chAos

I've actually had it prepared once when it actually tasted good, very good even. Only the one time though.