The simplest things are the best after all

We have a surfeit of avare at this time, and all the recipes I know using this delicious, fragrant vegetable are complicated ones, involving much roastng of spices, grating and grinding of coconuts and suchlike. But yesterday I learnt a new way of cooking avare. Rajendra told me they just boil them in salted water, along with some peanuts. It sounded too good to be true, but I decided to try it out. Here it is, looking colourful and pretty before it goes into the solar cooker. Those purple things are some double beans I found growing up a thorn tree… Oh the pleasures of living off the land!

Here it is cooking in the wonderful sunshine we’re having now.

And here’s the end product.

Verdict: Delicious! I’m making another batch for tea today. No frills. I’m resisting the temptation to improve or improvise on this simple recipe. This lily will stay ungilded, for the time being at least.