Rayo Gundruk: Bold, Tangy Broadleaf Mustard, Cured the Old Way

Rayo Gundruk — रायो गुन्द्रुक — is made from rayo saag, the large, broad-leaved mustard green that grows vigorously across Nepal’s hills. Where tori leaves are slender, rayo leaves are big and robust, and the Gundruk they make is correspondingly bolder: deeper in colour, stronger in aroma, and more assertively sour.

The method is the same time-honoured one — wilt, ferment, sun-dry — but the bigger leaves give a chewier, more substantial dried green that holds up beautifully to long simmering.

Treat it as you would any Gundruk: rinse, then simmer into a sour jhol with a garlic-and-chilli temper, or sauté dry with tomatoes for gundruk ko sukkha. Its stronger character makes it a favourite for those who like their gundruk punchy and unmistakable.

It pairs especially well with dry-roasted soybeans (bhatmas sadeko) and with a steaming plate of rice, where its bold acidity does the most work. A little dried Rayo Gundruk rehydrates into a generous serving.

Rayo saag, the broadleaf mustard behind this Gundruk, is a vigorous cool-season green grown right across Nepal’s mid-hills (Pahad), from the eastern hills and the Kathmandu Valley to the western and far-western ranges, and into the warm Terai gardens in winter. Wherever the autumn brings a glut of these big leaves — chiefly October and November — hill families wilt, ferment, and sun-dry them into Gundruk to carry the season’s greens through the lean winter and spring.

Gundruk is genuinely pan-Nepali, made and loved by every hill community. It features prominently in Thakali cooking of Mustang, where gundruk is often simmered together with soybeans (gundruk-bhatmas) and served as one of the achars on the famous Thakali thali — a reminder that this humble ferment sits at the heart of the country’s most celebrated set meal.

For Nepalis abroad, choosing between Tori and Rayo Gundruk is a small but meaningful pleasure — a way of cooking exactly the way a particular home cooked. Both store for months and need no refrigeration, making them perfect pantry staples for Canadian winters.

Order traditionally cured Gundruk from our Nepali grocery in Canada and bring that bold, tangy mountain flavour to your table.