Pluck bychance

Follow India's foragers as they gather food growing wild in Ladakh, Delhi, Mumbai and Goa. Who knew the Earth was so generous?

- Shirin Mehrotra [e-mail]

The term Foraging used to evoke a kind of desert-island wretchedness – a lone survivor looking for food in the forest (with maybe a ball named Wilson for company). But in the last decade, it's had a makeover. Chefs trained pigs to sniff out rare truffles, and create luxury meals around their hauls.

Even that story is changing. On Reddit, forums about the activity have, well, mushroomed. There are discussions on how to get started, how to identify which fungi will kill you, elevate your pasta or give your evening a psychedelic filter. India, on the other hand, is saying, “hold my guchchi”.

Most of the country's foragers are not high-profile chefs on an expensive grocery run. They're forest lovers, farmers and people who were spotting jungle treasures long before they realised there was a word for it. Sure, it takes a keen eye to spot a chanterelle or wild herb under a rain-soaked tree. But, as newbies are learning, it takes a calm mind, a moral compass, and an understanding of forest ecosystems as well.

Malavika Bhatia

31, Delhi

When Bhatia entered the world of foraging in 2012, spotting mushrooms felt intimidating. “I looked for them when I went hiking, but not when I was in my own neighbourhood,” they say. Then, the pandemic hit, and as Delhi's parks grew wild, mushrooms were suddenly within reach. So, in 2021, after brushing up on mycology from the internet and local experts, Bhatia hosted their first walk. “My dad told me about people who went door-to-door selling foraged mushrooms in the 1970s-80s in Delhi. I met migrant communities from Jharkhand who pick mushrooms in Sanjay Van.”