Between noon and five, when cooking feels impossible and the air stands still, this is often all one can bear to eat: long, thin strips of melon or cucumber, salted or dusted with red chilli. It is a snack of necessity but also a little feast, an abundance drawn from a land presumed to lack.

Slimy, sour childhood memories — Kaachri wasn’t love at first bite for me, but it grew on me. This wild Rajasthani melon is a true desert gem, inside and out.

In the scorching Thar, a twisted little bean just made it big. Sangri’s upcoming GI tag marks a victory for tradition, ecology, and its fierce protectors. Read on to know why it matters.