Cook a Sikkimese dinner with a Yuksom family

Homestays in Yuksom cook with what the season and the fields give: rice, lentils, potatoes, squash, mustard and other greens, chillies, and in winter radish and cabbage. Fermented foods such as gundruk (dried, fermented greens) and kinema (fermented soybean) are common in the kitchens of the Nepali and Limbu communities here.

Ask your host a day ahead whether you can help with dinner. You might learn to fold momos, make a simple gundruk soup or grind a tomato and chilli achar on a stone. Families vary; some are glad of company in the kitchen, others prefer to cook alone.

Eat together if invited, and try the local tea or chhang if offered (decline politely if you do not drink). A small extra payment for a cooking session is fair; agree it in advance.