Delhi

India is a country of more than a billion - give or take a few million - people. Packed in a traffic jam in the old capital of Delhi, you could believe that they all drive cars, or squish into the hundreds of auto-rickshaws, buses or trucks around you.

'Horn Please' demand the signs on the back of all the large vehicles, and the other drivers oblige, filling the sultry air with a rich tapestry of barps and beeps.

Yet the air is surprisingly unpolluted, and your driver may explain: "The buses and trucks use gas, cars use diesel, and auto rickshaws are on gas too, now. There are no factories in Delhi itself, and see there." he waves at some roadside signs amongst the avenues of trees. "Green Delhi. We are very proud of that."

Fruit and vegetables are good and plentiful depending on the season - and easily available from street vendors.

Curries are the mainstay of the Indian diet and no Indian home cook would consider using anything but the freshest spices. Weighed or mixed to order, they are instantly available on a street corner near you.

India is a country of music and mystics. Round another corner and you will find something like this...

or this.....

or colourful displays such as this at Gandhi's tomb.

But even in the hubbub and movement there are cool quiet pockets of reflection and worship, for this ancient country has a deeply spiritual side as well.

Dates

A date palm can produce 45kg of fruit every year, and every part of the tree can be used for some purpose. Romans enjoyed dates at banquets, maybe because they contain a calming chemical, tryptophan. Perhaps too that is why Buddha included them in his list for a perfect (but rather monotonous) diet - dates, figs and nuts.

Dates have been cultivated in the Middle East for at least 5000 years, but they are thought to have flourished since 50,000BC. Today we seem to use dried dates rather than fresh and they certainly are excellent to add to cakes, scones, biscuits and desserts.

Fresh dates make an elegant addition to cheeseboards and fruit platters and they are even better when stuffed with cream cheese or nut butters. Served like this they can accompany coffee as an after-dinner specialty.

Fresh dates freeze exceptionally well and thaw with no changes at all - a good tip to know so that you can buy them when they are less expensive. Dates are an interesting nutritional cocktail of B vitamins (niacin, folic acid and B6) and minerals (iron and magnesium) and 4-5 pitted dates yield 385kJ.

Durian

Durian, known as the 'king of fruits' in south-east Asia has, to put it mildly, a distinctive odour. 'Dis-STINK-tive' would be more appropriate, many might say.

"How can you put something that smells so bad in your mouth?" a non-durian lover once asked me. "Well, what about washed rind cheese?", I countered. "Or cooked cauliflower. Or gorgonzola."

Durian has some pluses though. It makes up for its ugly look - picture a pineapple on a really bad hair day - and whiffy aroma, with a creamy sweet flesh. In fact once people know the taste-sensation in store, many quickly go from 'ugh! what's that dreadful smell?' to 'durian! where is it?'.