Nina Sengupta’s book “Edible Weeds and Naturally Growing Plants in Auroville” is an amazing resource for people learning about edible weeds. The book boasts beautiful line drawings illustrating the physiology of the plants as well as information on their medicinal and nutritional properties. It also has a color inlay that has color pictures of the plants to help people identify them further.

Thuthuvalai, known as climbing pea brinjal, is a thorny creeper that grows wild in Tamil Nadu and is used primarily in rasam and in chutneys.

The leaves are harvested and ground into a paste, and chili, garlic, tamarind, etc., are added to make a delicious soup. This book should not be underestimated. In times when we no longer have a relationship with where our food comes from and our health on a collective level is deteriorating, this book offers us a cultural redemption, a re-claiming of traditional knowledge that is otherwise being lost.