Lhotshampa Kitchen · Fermented Leafy Greens
Gundruk
Photo: Krish Dulal / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
No salt is added during fermentation — the sourness comes entirely from lactic acid bacteria working on the packed leaves, and once sun-dried the greens keep for months.
Mustard, radish, or cauliflower greens are packed tight and left to ferment for roughly a week, then spread out to dry in the sun until dark and pungent. Southern Bhutan's Nepali-descended Lhotshampa households simmer it into a sour soup or fry it as a side, eaten alongside rice and lentils.
Why it's made this way: Fermenting and drying greens let southern Bhutan's Nepali-heritage farming families store garden vegetables through the lean season, a technique carried into the region along with the broader Lhotshampa food traditions of Nepal, Sikkim, and Darjeeling.
Roughly what's in it
110kcal
6gprotein
18gcarbs
1gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
More from Bhutan
Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
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