Sikkimese Gundruk Soup (Fermented Leafy Green Soup)

Gundruk is made by shredding mustard, radish or cauliflower leaves, lightly wilting them in the sun, and then packing them tightly to ferment for several days before the fermented leaves are sun-dried for storage. The result keeps for months without refrigeration, which made it an essential preserved vegetable in the hill communities of Sikkim and the wider Eastern Himalayan belt long before cold storage was available.

NNWA includes gundruk soup because it demonstrates how mountain communities without year-round fresh vegetable access developed sophisticated preservation techniques that also happen to be a form of natural fermentation. It sits alongside the region's other fermented foods as a practical example of food preservation driven by geography rather than flavour alone.

The main technique to watch is the soaking step: dried gundruk needs to be properly rehydrated before cooking, and skipping this leaves the soup unpleasantly tough and stringy. It should also not be over-fried at the start, since gundruk is delicate compared with fresh greens and can turn bitter if scorched.

Variations include adding soybeans or bamboo shoot alongside the gundruk for extra texture, and some households prepare it as a thicker curry rather than a thin soup by reducing the water. Where dried gundruk is unavailable, a rough approximation can be made by lightly fermenting shredded mustard greens at home for a few days, though the flavour will be milder than the traditional sun-dried version.