Gundruk vs Sinki: Two Nepali Fermented Foods

Gundruk is fermented, sun-dried leafy greens: mustard greens, radish leaves, cauliflower leaves, even spinach when that is what the garden gave you that week. Sinki is fermented radish root, the actual mula, not the leaves. Both come out of the same instinct: when there is a glut of vegetables in the hills and no refrigeration, you salt or simply pack them tight, let lactic acid bacteria take over, and dry the result into something that lasts through the winter.

If you grew up eating dal bhat in the hills of Nepal, chances are gundruk showed up more often than sinki, simply because greens were more abundant than surplus radish. But in the eastern hill districts, sinki has its own strong following, and a well-made sinki ko achar can out-sour even the tangiest gundruk.

Both belong to the same pickled and fermented food family we cover in our broader Nepali & Indian pickles (achar) guide, and both show up regularly in the boxes we pack for nationwide grocery delivery across Canada.

Fresh mustard greens or radish leaves are wilted slightly in the sun, then packed tightly into a clay pot or bamboo basket, sometimes with a splash of the water they were washed in. No salt is strictly required, the greens ferment on their own lactic acid over three to seven days in a warm spot. Once sour, the mass is spread out and sun-dried until it turns dark green-brown and brittle.

The dried product is what you will find in a packet of Dried Gundruk (Mustard Greens) or Tori Gundruk, tori simply referring to the mustard-plant variety used. Rehydrate it in warm water for ten minutes and it is ready to go into soup. If you would rather skip the soaking step entirely, a jar of ready-made Gundruk Achar gives you the same sour flavour already cooked down into a pickle.

For a full walkthrough on soaking times, sourcing, and cooking methods, our dedicated gundruk buying and cooking guide goes deeper than we can here.

Sinki takes longer and works differently. Whole or roughly cut radish roots are packed into an underground pit or a sealed pot, sometimes buried, and left to ferment anaerobically for fifteen to twenty days. That longer, oxygen-starved ferment is why sinki tastes deeper and more sour than gundruk, closer to a fermented daikon than to a leafy green.

Once fermented, the radish is dried in the sun until it shrinks and toughens, holding its shape rather than shredding apart the way gundruk does. It is then simmered into sinki jhol or turned into a spicy achar with tomato, garlic, and timur.

Fresh sinki is genuinely hard to find outside Nepal's eastern hills, even within Nepal. What you will find shipped to Canada is usually radish worked into a ready pickle, like our Radish Pickle (Mula), which gives you that same sour radish character in a jar, no fermenting pit required. If you want to try making a version at home, our sinki ko achar recipe walks through a stovetop-friendly approach.

Gundruk is sharper and slightly bitter, with a texture that falls apart into soft shreds once rehydrated. It wants to be simmered into a soup, gundruk ko jhol, with black-eyed beans or potato, a spoon of mustard oil, and a handful of tomato. It also works dry-roasted with garlic and chili as a side dish alongside rice and lentils.

Sinki is sourer, earthier, and firmer. It holds up better to longer cooking, which is why it often ends up simmered slowly with tomato, garlic, and a pinch of timur for that signature Himalayan tingle, or turned into a fiery achar eaten alongside dal bhat.

If you are trying to decide which one to keep in the pantry, our broader Nepali achar types compared guide lines up gundruk, sinki, and half a dozen other pickles side by side so you can pick based on how you actually cook.

Both are fermented, which means both carry natural probiotics along with a real dose of iron, calcium, and fibre, a big reason gundruk has long been considered a health food in the hills, not just a flavour booster. We break down the specifics in our gundruk nutrition and benefits guide.

Store dried gundruk or a sealed pickle jar in a cool, dry cupboard, away from direct sun, and it will easily keep for six to twelve months unopened. Once opened, keep pickled versions refrigerated and use a dry spoon every time so moisture does not shorten the shelf life.

When you are stocking up, it is worth grabbing gundruk alongside other pantry basics from our spices & masala and pickles (achar) sections in the same order, since they ship together in one box anyway.