Pickles & Condiments
Gundruk ko Achar
गुन्द्रुकको अचार
Gundruk is Nepal's national fermented food — leafy mustard, radish or cauliflower greens packed away to sour, then sun-dried into wiry dark strands that keep for a year. Turned into achar with mustard oil, garlic, chilli and often roasted soybeans, it delivers a deep, funky sourness that nothing else in the Nepali larder matches. Born as a way to preserve the monsoon glut of greens through winter, it is now eaten year-round with dal-bhat, dhido and momo.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Serves
- 8
- Difficulty
- Easy
At the stove
Method
Soak the dried gundruk in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes until the strands soften and unfurl, then squeeze them out hard and chop roughly.
Heat the mustard oil in a pan until it smokes, then lower the heat and add the fenugreek seeds; let them go dark brown, which takes only seconds.
Add the dried chillies, garlic and ginger and fry until the garlic is golden and the kitchen smells sharp.
Stir in the turmeric and the chopped tomato and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the tomato breaks down into a rough sauce.
Add the squeezed gundruk and the salt and stir-fry over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes so the greens absorb the oil and spices.
Toss in the roasted soybeans and the crushed timur and cook for another minute — the beans should stay crunchy against the soft greens.
Take off the heat, stir through the lemon juice and coriander, and taste for salt and sourness.
Serve warm or at room temperature. It will keep in the fridge for about a week and the flavour improves after a day.
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