🥬 Edibles Encyclopedia • Hindi & English • Free
Edibles Encyclopedia खाद्य पौधों की पूरी जानकारी — Hindi और English में
Vegetables, fruits and herbs — complete growing guides, nutrition, harvest time and Indian kitchen uses
Ridge Gourd / Turai
तुरई / तोरी / नेनुआ
Luffa acutangula (ridge) | L. cylindrica (smooth/sponge)
Ridge Gourd / Turai — same plant as luffa bath sponge! Taste before cooking (bitter = toxic). Harvest young at 15-25 cm. 95% water — Ayurvedic summer cooling vegetable.
🌱 Feb-March (summer) | June-July (monsoon)
⏱️ 50-60 days — harvest young at 15-25 cm (old = luffa sponge!)
Tamarind / Imli
इमली
Tamarindus indica
Tamarind / Imli — India's flavor ("Tamr Hindi"). 200+ year tree, ZERO maintenance. Seeds remove fluoride from water! Grows in 500mm rainfall. Seedling 7-10 yr, grafted 4-5 yr.
🌱 June-July | Grafted for 4-5 yr fruit | Seedling 7-10 yr | Tree life: 200+ years!
⏱️ Feb-April — pods ripen in dry season | Hundreds kg/mature tree
Lemon Balm / Melissa
लेमन बाम / मेलिसा
Melissa officinalis
Lemon Balm — improves memory AND reduces anxiety simultaneously (unique herb!). FRESH = 50%+ more potent than dried. Container always (like mint). Thyroid medication: monitor. Bee magnet.
🌱 Cuttings or seed | Sept-Oct or Feb-March | ALWAYS container (like mint — spreads)
⏱️ First: 4-6 weeks | FRESH dramatically better than dried (50%+ volatile loss)
Cluster Beans / Guar
ग्वार / गवार फली
Cyamopsis tetragonoloba
Cluster Beans / Guar — India produces 80% world guar gum (in your ice cream + oil drilling!). Most drought tolerant vegetable. Galactomannan = blood sugar. Nitrogen fixer.
🌱 March-June (summer best) | June-August (kharif)
⏱️ 45-60 days — harvest young pods at 6-10 cm
Pineapple / Ananas
अनानास
Ananas comosus
Pineapple / Ananas — grow from fruit crown (free!). Bromelain = natural NSAID anti-inflammatory. Eat the CORE (10x more bromelain!). Foliar fertilizer works better. Ratoon = free 2nd crop.
🌱 March-May | Crown propagation from fruit top | Ratoon 2nd + 3rd crop free
⏱️ Crown: 18-24 months | Ratoon: 12-15 months | Base yellows = harvest
Chives / Hari Pyaz
चाइव्स / हरी प्याज़ (छोटी)
Allium schoenoprasum (chives) | A. tuberosum (garlic chives — better India!)
Chives — garnish provides 177% Vitamin K per 100g (eat it don't push aside!). Purple flowers edible. Garlic chives: better India heat. Same clump regrows forever. Cut, never pull.
🌱 Oct-Nov or Feb-March | Seed or division | Garlic chives: better India year-round
⏱️ Cut to 3-5 cm above soil — regrows 2-3 weeks. Indefinitely from same clump.
Drumstick / Moringa
सहजन / मुनगा / मुरुंगाई
Moringa oleifera
Drumstick / Moringa — "Miracle tree" (7x Vit C, 4x calcium, 3x iron). India native. Plant once = 20 years harvest. Cutting propagation fastest. Never waterlog. Frost protect.
🌱 Year-round (perennial) | Feb-June best planting | Pods: Feb-May peak
⏱️ 6-12 months first harvest | 10-20+ years continuous production
Sweet Lime / Mosambi
मौसम्बी / मीठा नींबू
Citrus sinensis / Citrus limetta
Sweet Lime / Mosambi — India's most consumed juice fruit. Stays GREEN when ripe (don't wait for yellow!). Drink within 30 min of pressing. More heat-tolerant than Kagzi. NOT sour at all.
🌱 Feb-March or June-July | Grafted | Year-round South India
⏱️ Grafted: 3-4 years | Nov-March main | 1000-2000 fruits/mature tree
Fennel / Saunf
सौंफ / मीठी सौंफ
Foeniculum vulgare (seed/herb) | F. vulgare var. azoricum (Florence/bulb)
Fennel / Saunf — restaurant saunf = pharmacology (not just courtesy!). Menstrual pain = ibuprofen (RCT). Entire plant edible. KEEP AWAY from dill. Allelopathic. Market seeds = free planting.
🌱 Oct-Nov or Feb-March DIRECT SOW | KEEP AWAY from dill! | Self-seeds forever
⏱️ Leaves: 6-8 weeks | Seeds: 4-5 months | Harvest green-grey (before dropping!)
Showing 9 of 75 edibles
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