If the Hallyu (K-wave) made kimchi a household name, US President Donald Trump’s cabinet is now making sauerkraut viral. Senior officials including Vice-President JD Vance and Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr have adopted an eating plan built on fermented foods, chiefly sauerkraut, a type of lacto-fermented cabbage, alongside grass-fed meat. Kennedy claimed he lost 20 pounds in 30 days. While most people think of kimchi, kombucha and sauerkraut when they hear ‘fermented foods’, they are missing out on a whole universe of lesser-known treasures happening just in their backyards. One such is gundruk, which stands out for its tangy and savoury taste. With a slightly pungent smell, akin to kimchi or sauerkraut, the fermented leafy green vegetable dish transports one to the Himalayan region — Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling.
Traditional treat
It’s something almost everyone has grown up with, whether in the mountains or the plains, says Yangdup Lama, co-founder of Bar Stormy, Hyderabad. “You may not eat it every day, but it’s one of those flavours that instantly brings back memories of home,” says the Darjeeling-born bartender-entrepreneur. Agrees Karma Paljor, editor-in-chief of EastMojo, a digital news media platform based in Guwahati. “Depending on the fermentation, the taste can be tangy, earthy or sour. I like a balance of not too sour and not too bland,” says Paljor, who hails from Sikkim. Traditionally, gundruk is made by fermenting and sun-drying leafy vegetables, most commonly radish leaves, and is usually enjoyed as a simple broth called gundruk ko jhol. It is used as a pickle or served as a side dish. “Every household has its own recipe, which is part of what makes it so special,” adds Lama.
Hearth & health
Gundruk is celebrated as a gut-friendly food, rich in lactic acid bacteria that acts as a natural probiotic to support digestion. During the off-season in the Himalayas, when local diets consist of starchy tubers and maize low in minerals, gundruk provides plant nutrients. The list of fermented foods is long — kinema (fermented soybean), sinki (preserved fermented vegetable), and sidra shukuti (dried fish), among others — proving how mountain-dwellers preserve seasonal produce through fermentation and drying.
Modern magic
It’s exciting to see how the humble dish is evolving. You’ll find it in salads, crispy snacks, even caviars and cocktails. At The Brook in Gurugram, the star of the show is Mitho Amilo, a cocktail that features gundruk as one of the ingredients. “We steep the gundruk to extract its earthy character and use that as the base of the drink. It’s definitely not our easiest cocktail to sell, but the people who know gundruk are always curious, and once they try it, they’re pleasantly surprised,” says Lama, its co-founder.