ABSTRACT
Fermented vegetables Vegetables are eaten in the Himalayas as a side dish at every meal. Green and leafy vegetables are grown on terraces in the hilly slopes from subtropical to temperate regions in the Himalayas. Some of the common vegetables grown in the Himalayas are fresh leaves of rayo-sag (Brassica rapa subsp. campestris var. cuneifolia); leafy mustard; radish; cabbage; cauliower; young tendrils, fruits, and tubers of squash (iskus); brinjal; chilli; cucumber; young tendrils and fruits of pumpkin; tomato; tree tomato; lemon; local varieties of chilli; potato; beetroots; sweet potato; cassava; arum/taro; yam; ginger; turmeric; large cardamom; carrot; etc. Bamboo is an important plant for many ethnic people of the subtropical regions of the Himalayas as foods and as nonfood products, such as house materials, handicrafts, etc. (Tamang 2001a; Bhatt et al. 2003, 2005). Some common species of domesticated and wild bamboo tender shoots used as foods of the Himalayas are Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Dendrocalamus sikkimensis, Dendrocalamus giganteus, Bambusa tulda, Melocanna bambusoides, Phyllostachys assamica, etc. Perishable and seasonal leafy vegetables; radishes; cucumbers; and young, edible, tender bamboo shoots are traditionally fermented into edible products in the Himalayas by the ethnic people using their indigenous knowledge of biopreservation.
