Regions: South India

Big-leaved and happy in a wet corner; corms below, edible leaves above.

One corm fills a large pot and returns a much bigger one in a year.

Ground cover, greens and tubers from a few cuttings pushed into soil.

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

A shrubby pulse that stands two years, fixes nitrogen and shelters small birds.

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

Sixty days from sowing to dal, and sproutable on a kitchen shelf.