Regions: East India

The southern staple root — a stem cutting in June is a meal by March.

A winged-stemmed climber storing a heavy tuber under a monsoon trellis.

The fastest useful tree there is — 3 m in a year, edible leaves and pods.

A small tree that lives happily in a deep pot and gives leaves all year.

The winter sem of the plains, purple-flowered and heavy-cropping on a fence.

A four-angled pod from the north-east and the coasts — every part is edible.

A short monsoon pulse, sown between crops as much as for the dal.

The big white-waxed gourd of the south, stored for months after harvest.

Sprawls generously and stores well; the leaves and flowers are food too.

Fast, thirsty and best trained up a net where air can move around it.