Ginger (Adrak / Aale)

Aale grown in our own soil on vermicompost, dug up and sent out with the field still on it. Fresh ginger like this has skin thin enough to scrape away with a thumbnail, pale short fibres, and a sharp smell the moment a piece snaps. Adrak held for months in cold storage turns leathery on the outside and dries inward from the cut.

We do not wash it before packing. A film of mud keeps the rhizome from drying out and it rinses off in seconds under the tap.

Crush it with green chilli into the aale lasun paste that starts nearly every Maharashtrian bhaji, grate it into chai, drop a slice into varan and amti. Ginger juice with lime and gul makes a fair summer drink.

Choose 250g or 500g. Keep it unwashed in the fridge, wrapped in a dry cloth. Browse organic vegetables or add bhindi to the same delivery.