POTATOES ( ALOO ) - I LOVE TO EAT EVERYDAY - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

ALOO IN URDU

POTATOES IN ENGLISH

POTATOES,ALOO, SOLANUM TUBEROSUM

The common potato has an extremely long history and something of a checkered past. The name potato comes from the Peruvian Quechua language’s batata which is one of the Latin names of the yam and the sweet potato. The potato is a member of the......LEARN MORE 

SAUSAGE TREE ( KIGELIA AFRICANA ) - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

THE SAUSAGE TREE

KIGELIA AFRICANA OR KIGELIA PINNATA

THE SAUSAGE TREE, KIGELIA AFRICANA, KIGELIA PINNATA

Kigelia Africana or Kigelia pinnata is one of a kind and the only Kigelia plant. It gets its name from the Mozambican name for the tree, Kigeli-keia, and the English name is because of the shape and size of its fruit. These are not your breakfast type of sausage, but more of a German wurst, or Italian Mortadella or salami. In fact the German name Leberwurst (liver sausage) for this tree reflects this. It is a member of the Bignoniaceae family of trumpet-creeper plants as is the jacaranda, another......LEARN MORE 

PLUMS? ALOO BUKHARA - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

ALOO BUKHARA IN URDU

PLUMS IN ENGLISH

PLUMS, PRUNES, ALOO BUKHARA

There are more than 2000 varieties of plum which grow around the world. The aloo bukhara, (which in Urdu means the potato of Bukhara, is in fact a corruption of  alu in Farsi, which means plum) grows in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and India. Bukhara is a famous ancient city, and was founded long before AD 800 when the modern city was founded on an older site. It was the centre of learning along with Samarkand and is now situated in Uzbekistan. It is now famous in the region......LEARN MORE 

SUGAR CANE? GANNA - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

GANNA IN URDU

SUGAR CANE IN ENGLISH

SUGAR CANE

Sugar cane originated on the island of New Guinea and spread along the migration routes of early people. It is known that people were using sugar cane in New Guinea from 6000 BC, so it was probably in use for much longer than that. This early migration took sugar cane into Asia and the Indian subcontinent, where it cross-bred with wild sugar canes, its close relatives, to produce the sugar cane we have now. From New Guinea it also spread to other areas in the Pacific......LEARN MORE 

ACHROTE? WALNUT - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

ACHROTE IN URDU

WALNUT IN ENGLISH

WALNUTS, ACHROTE in URDU, (Juglans regia)


Walnut trees are native to the Balkans, the regions around the Caspian Sea, northern India, Pakistan and the Himalayan region. There are many different types of walnut tree, but the common one is the Persian walnut which now grows in Britain, mainland Europe, Asia and North America. The black walnut is native to North America as is the white walnut.........LEARN MORE

KARELLA? BITTER GOURD OR BITTER MELON - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

KARELLA IN URDU

BITTER GOURD OR BITTER MELON IN ENGLISH

KARELLA or BITTER GOURD or BITTER MELON
Is it a cucumber? I asked naively, only to be told that it wasn’t. Well, what is it then? I really wanted to know the name of this vegetable in English, so that I knew a bit about what to expect from it. No one knew, and in the end I had to look it up on the net- to find the answer under someone else’s plaintive plea ‘What is Karella?’ What indeed! Luckily 2 people had answered the question, giving one of its names each. Ok, so now I know what it’s called. I’d eaten it by then, of course, and knew all about this bitter.....LEARN MORE 

KHEERA? CUCUMBER - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

KHEERA IN URDU

CUCUMBER IN ENGLISH

CUCUMBER, KHEERA in URDU CUCUMIS SATIVA

When you think “cucumber” you probably think of the long green one that we know in Europe, the one that is grown in greenhouses, but in Pakistan there are different varieties of cucumber, the desi kheera, which is a relatively small, thick yellow cucumber and small green cucumbers which are kheera and look like mini-cucumbers. The seeds and leaves are......LEARN MORE 

KHARBOOZA? HONEY MELON - INFORMATION AND PICTURS

KHARBOOZA OR KHAKRI IN URDU

HONEY MELON IN ENGLISH

HONEY MELON, KHARBOOZA

It is now the middle of March, and the yellow melons called Kharbooza in Urdu, have arrived from the province of Sindh. These are not the same as honey dew melons although they look a little like them. They have creamy net patterns on their yellow rind and when opened release a fragrant aroma. They are really sweet and taste like honey. All melons and gourds are part of the Cucurbitaceae....LEARN MORE

SHELJUM, GHONGLO OR DIPPER? TURNIPS - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

SHELJUM IN URDU, GHONGLO OR DIPPER IN PUNJABI

TURNIPS IN ENGLISH

TURNIPS, SHELJUM, GHONGLO, BRASSICA RAPA

Turnips have been cultivated for at least 4000 years but no one is certain where they came from; possibilities are western Asia and north eastern Europe. They like the cold British and Northern European climate though and were wonderful vegetables as they could be stored over winter They lost out in the.....LEARN MORE 

HALWA KADU OR KIA KADU? PUMPKIN - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

HALWA KADU OR KIA KADU IN URDU

PUMPKIN IN ENGLISH

PUMPKIN, HALWA KADU, KIA KADU (CUCURBITA) 

Pumpkins are members of the Cucurbita family which includes melons and gourds. The word pumpkin comes from the Greek “pepon” meaning large melon. They are native to North America, and pumpkin seeds dating from between 7000 and 5500 BC have been found in Mexico. They were cultivated by the Native Americans who used ........LEARN MORE

ANANAS?PINEAPPLE - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

ANANAS IN URDU

PINEAPPLE IN ENGLISH

PINEAPPLE, ANANAS COMOSUS

The pineapple originated in South America, but spread through the continent and into the West Indies where it was discovered by Columbus and his crew in 1493 on the island of Guadeloupe. One of the crew wrote this description of it: - “…in the shape of a pine cone, twice as big, which fruit is excellent and....LEARN MORE 

NARIAL? COCONUT - INFORMATION AND PICTURS

NARIAL IN URDU

COCONUT IN ENGLISH

COCONUTS, NARIAL IN URDU, COCOS NUCIFERUS

The name coconut comes from the Portuguese, cocos, meaning a grimacing face, such as that on a jack o’ lantern made from a turnip or pumpkin, and makes reference to the monkey face of the coconut, with three eyes or indentations in the shell, and the ‘hair.’ Nuciferus means nut-bearing. It is native to the Pacific region and is and has .......LEARN MORE

AARHOO? PEACH - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

AARHOO IN URDU

PEACH IN ENGLISH

PEACH, AARHOO, PRUNUS PERSICA

Peaches have the Latin name Prunus because they were thought to resemble a plum and Persica because it was thought that they originated in Persia. However we now know that they originated in China where they have been cultivated for thousands of years and where wild peaches still grow. It is thought that they may have grown along the Chinese trade routes of the ancient world as traders threw away the peach.......LEARN MORE 

BOHAR TREE? BANYAN TREE - INFORMATION AND PICTURES

BOHAR IN URDU

BANYAN TREE IN ENGLISH

THE BOHAR OR BANYAN TREE

The Bohar tree is native to India and Pakistan, although it now grows throughout tropical Asia. It is the Ficus benghalensis, a member of the fig family of trees. It is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus. Krishna is said to have achieved enlightenment under one, and Shiva, in his role of Universal teacher, Dakshinamurti, sat under a bohar tree to enlighten the sages who had come to hear his teachings. It is India’s national symbol, symbolizing India’s unity through diversity (as the tree has several trunks and many aerial roots).The Banyan tree is also a........LEARN MORE 

PERSIMMON? AMLOK OR JAPANI PHAL - INFORMATION

AMLOK OR JAPANI PHAL IN URDU

PERSIMMON IN ENGLISH

PERSIMMON, (JAPANI PHAL or AMLOK in URDU) DIOSPYROS KAKI

Persimmon is known by many names including, Sharon fruit, Japani Phal or fruit in Urdu, and is Diospyros kaki in Latin. However there are different types of Diospyros, including one that bears a black fruit. The one we have in Pakistan is slightly different to the ones I’ve had in Europe. It’s the same vivid orange colour, but has more water in it - it’s squishier and so is.......LEARN MORE 

BILBERRIES OR WHINBERRIES - INFORMATION

BILBERRIES

OR WHINBERRIES

BILBERRIES, WHINBERRIES, WIMBERRIES, VACCINIUM MYRTILLIS

There are at least 450 species of Vaccinium plants and where I come from in South Wales we call them wimberries, which is a corruption of the English name for these berries, whinberries. The word whin means furze or gorse and....... LEARN MORE

JACK FRUIT - INFORMATION

JACK FRUIT IN ENGLISH

KATHAL IN URDU

JACKFRUIT, KATHAL (URDU), ARTOCARPUS HETEROPHYLLUS

Jackfruit or Kathal in Urdu is a member of the mulberry family of trees and fruit. It is distantly related to figs and more closely to breadfruit. It is no relation to durian, although it looks a lot like it when it is growing. It is one of those fruits that you........LEARN MORE