Fresh Produce

Mango leaves, called aam ke patte in Hindi, are the glossy green leaves of the mango tree. They have no established German name, as they are used for decoration rather than as food.

They are traditionally strung together into a toran, a decorative garland hung across doorways for festivals, weddings, and religious occasions, and are also used in some pooja rituals.

How to use

• Wipe the leaves clean with a soft, damp cloth before use.
• Thread the stems onto string or thread to make a garland or toran.
• Keep at room temperature and use within a few days, as the leaves dry out and curl over time.

Mint is called pudina in Hindi, sold in German as Minze. The small, bright green leaves have a strong, cooling, sharp flavour and are almost always used fresh rather than cooked for long.

It is blended into mint chutney served with samosas and snacks, added to raita, and used in drinks such as mint-flavoured lassi or lemonade.

How to use

• Pick the leaves off the tougher stems before chopping or blending.
• Add towards the end of cooking, or use raw, since heat dulls its flavour quickly.
• Store wrapped in a damp cloth in the fridge and use within a few days, as it wilts quickly.

White button mushrooms, known as Champignons in German, have a firm, pale cap with a mild, earthy flavour and a smooth, faintly chewy texture once cooked. They are widely used in both German and Indian cooking.

In Indian kitchens they are cooked into mushroom masala, mushroom do pyaza, or a simple mushroom curry with onion and tomato, and they also work well stir-fried with garlic and pepper. In German cooking they suit a Champignon cream sauce, a pan-fried side dish, or a topping for schnitzel.

How to use

• Wipe clean with a damp cloth rather than soaking them in water.
• Trim the very end of the stem before slicing or halving.
• Keep refrigerated in a paper bag or the original packaging and use within 3 to 4 days.

This is a mix of bell peppers, called Paprika in German and Shimla mirch in Hindi, in a mix of colours such as red, yellow and green. The flesh is crisp and juicy, with green peppers tasting more bitter and red or yellow ones sweeter.

In Indian cooking they go into a simple capsicum sabzi, into paneer and pepper dishes, and into Indo-Chinese stir-fries. In German cooking they are common raw in salads or roasted as a side.

How to use

• Wash and cut in half, removing the stem, seeds, and white inner ribs.
• Slice or dice depending on the dish; they can be eaten raw or cooked briefly to keep some crunch.
• Store in the fridge and use within about a week.

Parwal, also known as pointed gourd, is a small oval green gourd, sometimes faintly striped, with a mild flavour and a texture close to a firm courgette once cooked. It has no established German name.

It is often stuffed with a spiced filling and shallow-fried as bharwan parwal, cut into rounds for a simple parwal sabzi, or cooked together with potatoes.

How to use

• Lightly scrape the skin if it feels tough; young, tender gourds can be left unpeeled.
• Trim the ends, then slit lengthwise for stuffing or slice into rounds for a dry sabzi.
• Store in the fridge and use within about a week.

This is a whole coconut of the type commonly used for pooja (Hindu religious ritual), called nariyal in Hindi and Kokosnuss in German. It is the mature brown coconut with a hard, hairy shell, chosen here for its role in worship and offerings rather than as a cooking ingredient.

Beyond ritual use, once opened it can be treated like any whole coconut: the water drunk fresh and the flesh grated for cooking.

How to use

• Keep the shell intact and dry until it is needed.
• To open it, tap firmly around the middle with the back of a heavy knife or a hammer until it cracks.
• Store at room temperature for one to two weeks unopened; once opened, refrigerate the flesh and use within a few days.

Vegetables 

Vegetables 

Brussels sprouts, called Rosenkohl in German, are small round buds that grow along a thick stalk, similar in taste to a miniature, slightly more bitter cabbage, with a firm texture that softens when cooked.

They are a traditional German winter vegetable, usually boiled or roasted, and are also good pan-fried with a little garlic. They are not part of traditional Indian cooking but adapt well to a quick stir-fry with mustard seeds and chilli.

How to use

• Trim the base and remove any loose or discoloured outer leaves.
• Cut a small cross in the base of larger sprouts so they cook evenly, or halve them.
• Store in the fridge and use within about a week.

This is red cabbage, called Rotkohl or Blaukraut in German. It has tightly layered deep red-purple leaves, a firmer texture than green cabbage, and a slightly peppery flavour when raw that turns sweet-sour when braised.

In German cooking it is most often braised slowly with apple, vinegar, and a little sugar as a classic side dish, and it can also be shredded raw into a slaw.

How to use

• Remove the outer leaves and cut out the tough central core before shredding.
• For braising, cook slowly over low heat until soft; for salads, slice thinly and dress while raw.
• Store whole in the fridge for two to three weeks; a cut half should be wrapped and used sooner.

This is a round yellow cucumber, similar to what is known in Telugu as dosakaya and in Hindi sometimes as kakdi. It has a thicker, more textured yellow-green skin than a regular cucumber, with firmer, slightly tangy flesh and larger seeds toward the centre.

It is used in South Indian cooking for dosakaya pappu, a lentil dish cooked with this cucumber, for pickles, and for a raw salad with a light tempering of mustard seeds and chilli.

How to use

• Peel the tougher skin before cutting.
• Halve and scoop out the larger, harder seeds in the centre if they have matured, keeping the firmer flesh.
• Store in the fridge and use within about a week.

This is a round yellow cucumber, similar to what is known in Telugu as dosakaya, at a larger size than the smaller-packed version. It has thick, textured yellow-green skin, firmer flesh than a regular cucumber, and larger seeds toward the centre.

It is used in South Indian cooking for dosakaya pappu, a lentil dish cooked with this cucumber, for pickles, and for a raw salad with a light mustard-seed tempering.

How to use

• Peel the tougher outer skin before cutting.
• Halve and scoop out the larger, harder seeds in the centre, keeping the firmer surrounding flesh.
• Store in the fridge and use within about a week.

Spitzkohl, or pointed cabbage, is a German cabbage variety with a distinctive cone-shaped head and softer, more delicate leaves than round cabbage, with a milder, sweeter flavour.

It is used in German cooking similarly to other cabbages, in Krautsalat, lightly braised as a side dish, or added to soups, and it also cooks well quickly stir-fried in the style of an Indian cabbage sabzi.

How to use

• Remove any outer leaves that look wilted, then rinse the head.
• The core is more tender than in round cabbage and does not always need to be removed.
• Keep in the fridge and use within about a week, as the leaves are more delicate than round cabbage.

Spring onion is called hari pyaz in Hindi and Fruehlingszwiebel in German. It has a small white bulb with a mild oniony bite and long green stalks with a fresher, milder flavour than mature onion.

Both the white and green parts are used in Indo-Chinese cooking such as fried rice and manchurian, chopped raw as a garnish over chaat and salads, and stirred into a quick vegetable stir-fry. In German cooking it is common raw in salads or as a topping.

How to use

• Trim the root end and any wilted tips, then rinse well.
• The white bulb can be cooked briefly for flavour while the green tops are best added at the end or used raw.
• Keep in the fridge wrapped loosely and use within about a week.

Fresh Suran

These are dark, seedless grapes, called angoor in Hindi and Trauben in German; 'dunkel' means dark-coloured and 'kernlos' means seedless. The skin is deep purple to almost black, with firm, juicy, sweet flesh underneath.

Like other grapes, they are eaten fresh as a snack or added to fruit salads, and can be used in a light fruit chaat or raita.

How to use

• Rinse well under running water before eating.
• Remove grapes from the stem individually and check for any soft or spoiled ones.
• Store in the fridge, ideally in a perforated bag, and use within about a week.

These are light green seedless grapes, called angoor in Hindi and Trauben in German; 'hell' means light-coloured and 'kernlos' means seedless. They have thin skin and firm, juicy, sweet flesh, eaten whole without needing to remove pips.

Grapes are mostly eaten fresh as a snack or in fruit salads, and are sometimes added to raita or a light fruit chaat.

How to use

• Rinse well under running water before eating, as the skin can carry residue or dust.
• Snip or pull grapes off the stem individually rather than eating straight off the bunch, to check for any spoiled ones.
• Keep in the fridge, ideally in a perforated bag, and use within about a week.

This is white cabbage, called Weisskraut in German and patta gobi in Hindi, the same family of vegetable as green cabbage but with pale, tightly packed leaves and a firmer, crunchier bite.

In German cooking it is the base for Krautsalat, a vinegar-dressed slaw, and for Sauerkraut once fermented. In Indian cooking it can be shredded into a cabbage sabzi or thoran in the same way as green cabbage.

How to use

• Remove the outer leaves and rinse the head before shredding or cutting into wedges.
• Cut out the hard core at the base, which is not eaten.
• Store whole in the fridge, where it keeps for two to three weeks; wrap a cut portion tightly.

Red onion is called lal pyaz in Hindi and pyaaz in Urdu, and is sold in Germany as rote Zwiebel. It has a thin purple-red skin over white flesh streaked with purple rings, and a sharper, more pungent bite than yellow onion when raw, mellowing into a sweeter flavour once cooked.

In Indian kitchens it goes into the base masala for curries and dals, into salads (kachumber) and raitas where it is eaten raw, and into biryani where thin slices are deep-fried into crisp birista. It also works well in German dishes such as Zwiebelkuchen or simply sliced into a salad.

How to use

• Peel off the papery outer skin before cutting.
• For raw use, slice thinly and rinse briefly in cold water to soften the sharpness.
• Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place, not in the fridge; whole onions keep for several weeks.

Fresh paneer — Indian cottage cheese, indischer Frischkäse — in a 400g block. Firm, mild and unsalted, it holds its shape when cooked, which is what makes it the workhorse protein of vegetarian Indian cooking.

Cut it into cubes for palak paneer, paneer butter masala, matar paneer or kadai paneer; skewer and grill it for paneer tikka; crumble it for bhurji, or grate it into kofta and sweets like rasmalai and sandesh.

Two things make a real difference: fry or grill the cubes briefly before they go into the gravy so they hold together, and add them near the end, since long cooking turns paneer rubbery. Soaking the cubes in warm water for ten minutes before use softens them again. Keep refrigerated and use within a few days of opening.

This is pointed gourd, called parwal in Hindi and potol in Bengali; it has no common German name. It is a small, oval, green gourd, sometimes lightly striped, with a mild flavour and a texture similar to a firm courgette once cooked.

It is commonly stuffed with spiced fillings and shallow-fried as bharwan parwal, cut into rounds for a simple parwal sabzi, or cooked with potatoes in a light curry.

How to use

• Scrape the skin lightly if it feels tough, though young gourds can be left unpeeled.
• Trim the ends and slit lengthwise if stuffing, or slice into rounds for a dry sabzi.
• Keep in the fridge and use within about a week.