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Curd cheese, or panir, is rich in protein and extremely versatile. It can be deep-fried and used in vegetable dishes, crumbled into salads, made into sweets, stuffed inside breads and pastries, and creamed into dips.

Curd cheese is the simplest kind of unripened cheese and is made by adding an acid or other curdling agent to hot milk. The solid milk protein coagulates to form the soft curd cheese, the liquid whey is separated, and the cheese is drained, pressed, and then used as required. Because curd cheese is not commonly available in shops, and the hom-made product is vastly superior, I have included the simple recipe for making your own.

The quality and freshness of the milk will determine the quality of the curd cheese. The higher the fat-content of the milk, the richer the curd cheese. Different curdling agents will produce different types of curd. The most common curdling agents are strained, fresh lemon juice, citric acid crystals dissolved in water, yogurt, cultured buttermilk, or sour whey from a previous batch of curd cheese.

Khichari (pronounced ‘kitch-eri’) is such an important dish for vegetarians that I have included a different recipe for it in each of my cookbooks. The flavoursome, juicy stew of mung beans, rice and vegetables is both nutritious and sustaining. It can be served any time a one-pot meal is required. You can practically live on khichari, and in fact some people do. I eat it accompanied by a little yogurt, some whole-wheat toast, lemon or lime wedges and topped with a drizzle of melted ghee. Bliss!

In the ancient Indian medical science, Ayurveda, bitter melons are well-known for their ability to cleanse the blood, aid digestion, help cure diabetes and encourage a failing appetite. Fried chips of bitter melon are well-loved in India, and are generally eaten in small appetiser quantities at the outset of a full lunch or dinner. To reduce their bitterness, the melons are rubbed in salt before cooking. You'll find bitter melons in Asian and Indian food stores. Always look for small melons that are dark green in colour and heavy for their size.

Kumquats look like miniature oranges, and although they are closely related to the citrus species, they belong to a different genus altogether.

Whereas most citrus fruits are considered sub-tropical, kumquats are very hardy and grow easily in home gardens. The round, ornamental variety of kumquats are common, but I prefer to cook the more firm, oval variety (pictured above). Nevertheless, all kumquats yield a delicious marmalade which is both refreshing and tangy. It is a favourite with those who don’t like their marmalade too sweet.

Ginger is a very important and versatile culinary spice of wide acclaim, but did you know that it is also an extremely powerful healing herb? Ginger is the most popular of hundreds of members of the Zingiberacea family. To be botanically correct, ginger is a rhizome and not a root. It is available in many varieties, from mild to spicy, and requires tropical conditions and fertile soil for optimum growth.

Over millenia, millions of people have enjoyed the benefits of ginger. For spiritual upliftment, digestive comfort and strength, stimulation and relief from infirmity, ginger has been heralded as the herb of choice, and has been included in most traditional Eastern formulas. Ginger is aptly described in the traditional language of Sanskrit as “vishwabhesaj”, the universal medicine.

Ginger has been used historically for wound healing, as an analgesic, anti-arthritic, anti-ulcer, as a stimulant, as well as a powerful treatment for a variety of respiratory, reproductive, and digestive complaints. Ginger also shows great therapeutic potential in the treatment of arthritis and cardiovascular disorders, and as a probiotic support.

The anti-nausea effect of ginger is well documented. Although I didn’t know it at the time, ginger was one of the main ingredients in the carsickness medicine I occasionally took as a young lad.

My first culinary experience of ginger was in 1974 in steamy West Bengal, while visiting the holy city of Sridham Mayapur. On the first morning, about one hundred others and I sat side by side, cross-legged and expectant, along the cool marble-tiled verandahs of the Chandrodaya Temple. Cool breezes wafted in from the serpentine Mother Ganges that slithered majestically through nearby rice fields This was to be our first meal in India – a multi-course breakfast feast, in fact.

While memories of the exact menu have faded, I distinctly recall the elegant yet simple entree – buttery chickpeas, served with wafer-thin slices of tender young ginger with paper-thin pinkish skin and greenish-ivory flesh, drenched in fresh lime juice and sprinkled with salt. It was a sublime and tantalising experience that the subsequent quarter century of eating experiences has not erased.

Ginger still remains one of my well-loved kitchen favourites. I relish its spicy, sweet aroma, its invigoratingly clean, hot sharp taste, its digestive properties, and its cleansing effect on the body.