Fresh Produce, page 3

A South Asian kitchen asks more of its greengrocer than most. A week of cooking might want snake gourd and ridge gourd for a light curry, drumsticks for sambar, a knob of ginger and a handful of green chillies for almost everything, coriander and curry leaves by the bunch, and then the ordinary carrots, onions and potatoes that any house gets through. Supermarkets stock the second half of that list well and the first half badly, which is why so many cooks end up making two trips.

What we stock

Our fresh vegetables cover both halves, from the gourds, roots and greens that a Tamil, Sinhalese or Gujarati kitchen leans on to the everyday staples. Fresh fruit follows the same idea, with the mangoes, lemons and limes that go into pickle, sambol and nimbu pani as well as fruit for the bowl. Fresh herbs and leaves are sold the way they are used, by the bunch or the bag, so a tempering gets its curry leaves and a kottu gets its coriander.

Buying and keeping it

Produce is ordered against what sells, not against a forecast, so what is listed is what came in. Most leaves keep best loosely wrapped in the fridge and most gourds prefer the cool and the dark. Roots like ginger, turmeric and cassava hold for a week or more, and anything bunched is worth using in the first few days while the stems are still firm.

Once the vegetables are in, the rest of the meal is a short step away in spices and masalas and dals and pulses.