Fenugreek is a robust herb and has light green leaves. The plant produces slender, beaked pods, each pod contains about 10 to 12 small, hard yellowish-brown seeds. The seed is produced as a spice. Fenugreek grows best in well-drained loams in mild climates. The crop matures in about 3 – 4 months after sowing. After … Continued
Red beet is the taproot portion of the beet plant. Usually the deep purple roots of beetroot are eaten boiled, roasted or raw, and either alone or combined with any salad vegetable. Apart from being used as food red beets are also known as a natural food colouring agent. Betanin that is obtained from the … Continued
Cultivated cabbage varieties are produced worldwide as a vegetable. It is a crop with a thick stem, grey-green leaves, and four-petaled flowers, growing to eight feet. Within the first year, it produces a greatly enlarged terminal bud that develops into the familiar cabbage head. The white, green and purple varieties are most common. Nowadays China … Continued
Leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek. The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus Allium also contains the onion, garlic, shallot and Chinese onion. Leek is consumed as flakes, granules or in powder … Continued
Garlic is a species in the onion genus, Allium and is closely related to onion, shallot, chives and leek. Garlic is native to Central Asia and has a history of many thousand years of human consumption and is being used worldwide as a food seasoning and as a medicine. It is commonly believed that the … Continued
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist as well. Carrots are a domesticated form of the wild carrot, Daucus carota, native to Europe and southwestern Asia. The plant probably originated in Persia and was originally cultivated for its leaves and seeds. The most … Continued
Bell pepper is a bell-shaped vegetable and is a sub variety of the capsicum annuum family. Bell pepper grows best in a temperate climate of about 21 to 29°C. The vegetable is sold both in its immature green state as well as in its red, yellow, or orange ripe state. Its species are native to … Continued
Coriander (or cilantro in US English) is an annual herb of the parsley family. Its small flowers are white or pinkish and its dried ripe fruits are the spice known as coriander seed. The crop requires three and one-half to four months to mature. Harvesting takes place when the colour of the seed has changed … Continued
Aniseed belongs to the parsley family. The majority of the world’s supply of anise, also known as aniseed, is cultivated in India. It is a slow growing plant requiring a frost free growing season of about 120 days. Aniseeds are available whole and ground.
Pink pepper is not related to black and white pepper (Piper nigrum). In fact there are several species of pink pepper, the Schinus terebinthifolius and the Schinus molle are the most common ones. Schinus terebinthifolius, also referred to as Brazilian red pepper, is a small tree, so not a vinous plant like Piper nigrum, that … Continued