Recipes
Traditional Gundruk Recipe: How to Make Nepal's Beloved Fermented Greens
May 28, 2026 8 min read
What Is Kwati?
Kwati is a traditional Nepali soup eaten during Janai Purnima (the sacred thread festival), made by combining nine varieties of beans and lentils — black gram, horse gram, dried peas, chickpeas, mung beans, soybeans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, and green beans. Known as the "nine-bean kwati," it's a rich blend of sprouted-grain nutrition and warming spices, and it's the one dish nearly every Nepali household prepares just once a year for this festival.
What You'll Need
- Mixed nine-bean blend (black gram, horse gram, peas, chickpeas, mung, soybean, kidney bean, black-eyed pea, green bean) — 2 cups
- Cooking oil — 2 tablespoons
- Cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida — to taste
- Ginger-garlic paste — 1 tablespoon
- Turmeric powder — half a teaspoon
- Onion (dried or fresh) — 1 small, chopped
- Salt, fresh coriander — to taste
Soaking and Sprouting the Beans
Soak all the beans together (or separately, then combine) in clean water for at least 8-12 hours, ideally overnight. Drain, wrap in a damp cloth, and keep in a warm, dark spot for 1-2 days until you see small sprouts, about 2-3mm long. Sprouting is what gives kwati its signature texture and boosts its nutritional value — don't skip this step even if you're short on time, since unsprouted beans make a much blander soup.
Cooking Steps
Step 1: Boil the Sprouted Beans
Pressure-cook the sprouted beans with water for 3-4 whistles until fully softened.
Step 2: Prepare the Spice Base
In a separate pan, heat oil and temper cumin, fenugreek, and asafoetida. Add the onion and sauté until lightly browned, then stir in ginger-garlic paste and turmeric for another minute.
Step 3: Combine and Simmer
Add the boiled beans to the spice base and mix well. Season with salt and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes so the spices soak into the beans. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot, on its own or with rice.
Why Kwati Is Tied to Janai Purnima
On Janai Purnima, Brahmin and Chhetri men change their sacred thread (janai), and people of all communities tie a protective raksha bandhan thread around their wrist. It's also the day of the famous pilgrimage to Gosaikunda in the high Himalayas. Because kwati is the festival's defining dish, the day is sometimes simply called "Kwati Purnima" — every household sprouts its beans in advance to have kwati ready on the day.
Nutritional Benefits
- An excellent source of plant protein and fiber from nine different legumes
- Sprouting makes the nutrients inside the beans easier to digest
- Light on oil, making it a genuinely healthy comfort food
- A strong protein option for vegetarian diets
Many sellers on FoodSansar stock fresh black gram, horse gram, kidney beans, and green beans — order your nine-bean mix from a nearby seller a few days before Janai Purnima to leave enough time for sprouting.
