Indian Seasonal Produce- November

November with its gloomy and rainy days should be brightened up with colorful and spicy foods that bring light and warmth while raising our spirits. 

Here is the list of Fruits, Veggies, Grains and Sea foods in season this November that give us the maximum health benefits needed to help us tackle all of them if cooked in a correct way. (Note: Read the list and know your local produces and consume them)

We are going through the Kharif season, also called as Monsoon crops/ Rainfed crops. The crops sown in June- July that are harvested in September, lasts till January. This season is known for storing food grains and dry produces in abundance due to bumper crop harvests..

During monsoon and winter the fruit varieties become less thus we are more dependent on dry fruits in winter season.

Here’s the list to buy and eat sustainably this month.

 

Fruits:

Pineapple, Guava, Fig, Jujubes, Buddhas hand, Noni, Shimla Apples, Passion fruit, Star Fruit, Sweet lime, Elephant apple/ Chalta, Grapefruit, Prickly pear, Custard apple, Shahtoot (Mulberries)

Other common Fruits- Pear, Pomegranate, Papaya, Banana.

 

Vegetables:

Fresh beans/ peas/ legumes will be starting to line up from this month, Carrot, Sweet potato, Brinjal, Corn, Tapioca/ Cassava, Beetroot, Capsicum, Lotus stem, Cluster beans, Broad beans, Normal Beans, Singhada/ Water chestnut, Cauliflower, Raddish, Turnip, Cow peas/ long beans, Cabbage, Pumpkin varieties, Turkey berry, Potato, Cauliflower. 

Other common Vegetables- Bottle gourd, Ash gourd, Lady’s finger, Bitter gourd, Mushroom, Raw banana, Banana stem/ Plaintain pith, Chayote/ Chow chow, Radish (hill variety), , Snake gourd, Teasel gourd, Suran/ Yam, Colocasia.

 

Food rains: All the food grains (rice, dals, legumes). It's the best season to stock up and consume it more.

 

Green leafy vegetables: Spinach, Purslane, Dhekia xak, Methi, Beet leaves, Radish leaves, Spring onions, Gongura, Mustard greens, Bathuwa, Mukkarattai. 

 

Herbs and spices: Turmeric, Ginger, Cardamom, Pepper, Mint, Coriander. 

 

Sea foods:

Sardine (Chooda, Mathi, Swadi, Patulda, Pedva), Tiger prawns, Squid, Tuna, Mackerel, Sardine, Anchovy (Nethili, Poravallu, Maandheli), Emperor fish, King fish (Surmai), Indian Salmon (Raavas), Cat fish, Coastal sharks, Croaker, Milk shark.

 

 

Note: I have studied the Indian seasonal produces with the help of farmers network and various research articles following the guidelines of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) and based on the cropping seasons – Kharif, Zaid and Rabi. Thereby, I’ve curated the fruits & vegetables, food grains and rest mentioned that would be available to us based on the sowing- growing and harvesting time period calculations for each month.

Kinds of seafood were studied and curated based on its availability along the West Coast and East coast from CIBA (Central Institute of Brackish Aquaculture) and knowyourfishes.org.in. 

I hope this information is helpful to consume local and seasonal produces thereby keeping a  check on health too. 

Kindly let me know your thoughts if this benefits you all through comments below. 

Thank You! 

Maria Jenita, PhD