Rain. Day before last, it was relentless. We had a reprieve yesterday, and I got some planting done, but most of my garden is flooded and impossible to work. I’m already a week or two behind. In this short season, that could mean a lean year for vegetables.
Steaming bowl of gundruk soup.
So when I woke at five this morning to another storm pounding the yurt, I wanted to cry. After dumping for several hours, the squall moved on. We’ve since had a few sun breaks between brief showers, but the garden is still too wet to work.
I gave up and decided to make gundruk for lunch.
Gundruk is a Nepali soup made with fermented and dried mustard greens. It’s not an ingredient you’ll find in any grocery store, not even in the “Asian” section. I received mine during my last visit to Nepal three years ago from Amalesh’s great aunt, Chandrakala. She’s well-known for her meticulous preparation and for achieving the perfect degree of sourness.
The gundruk has kept remarkably well. It’s sour, musty, and pungent. For me, it is one of the quintessential smells of Nepal. It reminds me of the warmth of family and the hearth on cold days.
Along with a handful of gundruk, I chopped up an ancho chili and the last of my sun-dried tomatoes from last summer. I grated some ginger and chopped garlic (also from last year’s garden). In a bit of oil, I sizzled some fenugreek seeds and a few dried red chilies. Then I added the chopped gundruk, tomatoes and ancho, and fried the mixture a bit more. Next, I poured in four cups of vegetable broth and a bit of water, three chopped potatoes and simmered it all for about twenty minutes.
The result was not only delicious, it also gave me the satisfaction of bridging the seasons in my garden and reminiscing about the gardens and friends I’ve cultivated in various parts of the world. And it reminds me of one of the most important lessons I learned in Nepal: Farming is precarious. Don’t count on any one crop. Plant variety. And plant some of what always grows well so you’ll have something to preserve and eat no matter what.
That looks and sounds absolutely delicious. And healthy.
It was. Gundruk makes the heartiest vegetarian broth I’ve ever had.