Chokos are on my mind, even entering my dreams! (Well, this happened once – I dreamed I was living in the country near a friend and a block of land came up for sale that stretched behind both our houses. We decided to buy it together so we could plant a choko vine that would grow in both directions, reaching each yard. Ha ha, it was a lovely idea and made me grin when I woke up.) … An actual choko grows over our Melbourne back fence, coming from the courtyard of our Indian neighbours, Roopa and Giri. We probably would never have met them had it not been for this plant straddling the palings, and also an old plum tree down the back of our yard (we met for the first time while I was clambering on a shed roof picking plums, and offered them some of the harvest). We don’t see each other much (the nature of back fence neighbours), but when it’s choko season I pop my head over and a little exchange begins consisting of chokos, lemons, herbs, chit chat and recipes, and sometimes even cups of chai. Continue reading Mekong fish soup with choko shoots
