Prepare karela with onions and spices, fill it for a stuffed bitter-gourd dish or slice it for pan-cooking. Its distinctive bitter flavour suits traditional karela recipes.

Shred cabbage for coleslaw and salads, stir-fry it with other vegetables or cook it as a simple sabzi. Its leaves also work as wrappers for filled cabbage recipes.

Grate carrots into a salad, add them to soup or cook them with peas and potatoes. Carrots also work in gajar halwa, vegetable rice and homemade pickles.

Cut cauliflower into florets for aloo gobi, mixed vegetable curry or pakoras. It also works roasted with spices, stirred into soups or served as a vegetable side dish.

Slice cucumber for a crisp salad, grate it into raita or layer it in a sandwich. It pairs well with tomato, onion and lemon for a quick kachumber salad.

Crush garlic for a curry base, slice it for stir-fries or add it to daal tadka. Garlic also brings savoury flavour to homemade sauces, marinades and chutneys.