Eating lunch at an Indian restaurant here in Tokyo can be a strange experience if you've ever traveled in India. In general you get a small bowl of gloppy curry (or several tiny bowls) and an enormous nan (Indian flatbread) that covers a quarter of your table and looks like it can feed a family of four! Not only that, but seconds on nan are generally free! In India itself, you get a couple of thin, tortilla sized chapatti (unless you shell out more for a medium sized nan) and a generous, soupy curry chocked full of healthy veggies.

Needless to say, India is a poor country and many people are hungry. But famines are fairly rare and nutrition- from the food that the average Indian does get- is fairly varied and nutritious. Grains such as rice and wheat are highly valued and expensive. Therefore, the basic Indian meal of dhal (any number of legumes related to split peas) and rice will often contain twice as much dhal as rice. And humble, even scorned, dahl is what saves India from malnutrition. So no wonder Indian restaurants in Tokyo go overboard with giant nans and pasty curries with pasty roux- they must think it is a great luxury.

The truth is, the diet in India would be almost perfect for the human body if food were just more plentiful. They eat little meat or dairy products (usually yoghurt), modest amounts of grains, and plenty of vegetables and fruits. A big portion of this diet is in the form of legumes, which are an outstanding food source (maybe the best there is) and are quite easy to grow as well. In fact, with growing populations pressing the need for further food resources, we might just look to India as an ideal starting model.