Pumpkin

UAE-grown pumpkin with dense orange flesh and not much water in it, which is what you want — a watery pumpkin collapses into liquid and gives you nothing.

It goes both ways. Savoury: kaddu ki sabzi with panch phoron, a pumpkin dal, a soup finished with cumin. Sweet: halwa, or the kaddu ka meetha that turns up at Eid. Roasted in wedges with salt it needs nothing else.

A good pumpkin sounds hollow when tapped and feels heavy for its size. The stem should be dry and hard; a soft, damp stem means it was cut too early or has begun to rot from the top.

Whole pumpkin keeps for weeks somewhere cool and dry — no fridge needed, and no bag.

Once cut, wrap the face tightly and refrigerate; use it within four days. Scrape the seeds out before storing, because they go first.