Haleem is satiates as a meal on its own in Utter Pradesh. In Punjab, fluffy naan is best used to lap up the stew, fare la scarpetta.

My family recipe for Haleem is enough to feed an army. Keeping with tradition, invite friends and family to eat Haleem with you, distribute containers of the stew to loved ones and neighbours, and stow way boxes in the freezer to last up to six months, to eat on a cold rainy day.

Every culture has their own traditions of preservation. The humble lemon alone, finds long life as nimbu achar in South Asia, English Country Lemons, Leems or simply Preserved Lemons.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve talked about the Chicken Chargha I ate for lunch on the train in 2019. How it was delivered wrapped in newspaper inside a carrier bag and slid through the train window. How my mum attempted to portion the whole bird with a plastic knife and fork on a moving train. And how we ate it on disposable plates with runny saalans and roghni naan, precariously balanced on our knees.