Srinagar, May 03:Kashmir, renowned for its diverse mushroom species, boasts Shajkan as one highly esteemed for its flavor and nutritional benefits, cherished by locals.
During late March, women venture into nearby forests in Baramulla, Handwara, Kupwara, and Budgam to gather this rare delicacy.
“This mushroom generally grows in the shape of an ear. It is rich in protein, iron and calcium. The mushroom sprouts after lightning strikes the ground,” said Javid Ahmad, from Baramulla who has collected it many times with women folk in forest areas.
Despite its popularity, there’s no organized farming or processing for this mushroom. Instead, it remains a vital income source, especially from March to May, with families transporting it to Srinagar and selling it in markets across Baramulla and Kupwara.
Enthusiastically embraced, people eagerly incorporate it into various dishes.
“Wild mushrooms popularly known as Shajkan are found in northern part of Kashmir during the spring season especially when it rains. It is amazing in taste and delicious,” said Khursheed Ahmad, from Tangmarg, who recently purchased the mushroom from Baramulla market.
Similarly, Gucchi, also known as the common morel, is highly esteemed but challenging to cultivate. Ishfaq Ahmad from Babareshi describes its growth pattern, highlighting its short season from late February to early April, with belief that it sprouts post-lightning strikes.
In Kashmir’s villages, families spend days scouring forests for these prized delicacies, with boys eagerly joining the hunt in March and April. The dried Gucchi, priced at around Rs 30,000 per kg, holds significant economic value, often sought after by buyers even after the season ends.
It is a species of fungus in the family Morchellacae of the Ascomycota. It is one of the most readily recognized of all the edible mushrooms and most expensive type of mushroom which owes its expensive nature to cost and challenges in cultivation.
“When it grows in the month of March, it begins as a tightly compressed, grayish sponge with lighter ridges, and expands to form a large yellowish sponge with large pits and ridges raised on a large white stem,” said Ishfaq Ahmad, a resident of Babareshi.
He said Gucchi grows mostly in forest areas and is also found in plains where there is abundant amount of sand and also near water bodies. After remaining under soil for most of the year, Gucchi, found rarely, come out of the surface with the onset of spring.
“The mushroom has a short season, beginning from ending February to the beginning of April. People believe that the mushroom sprouts after lightning strikes the ground,” he said.
In Kashmir villages, poor families spend entire day in wild forests in search of these elusive delicacies. Finding Gucchi is exhausting as it is an arduous and painful process.
It has been seen that in villages young boys are excited in March and April months to venture out in groups to collect the rare mushroom which is later sold.
“After collection, soil from these mushrooms is cleared. It takes months before enough can be collected, dried and brought to the market,” said Ishfaq. Gucchi are dried by keeping it hanging on top of houses. Once dried these become small in size and then they are sold.
There are a lot of people associated with the purchase of Gucchi. Once April ends, they go to villages to purchase dried guchhi. The rare mushroom has an economic value as well.
The mushrooms can’t be cultivated commercially and instead grow wild in regions like Kangara Valley, Jammu and Kashmir, Manali, and other parts of Himachal Pradesh after the snowfall period.
Associate Dean at Shere-e Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K), Prof (Dr.) M. F. Baqual said mushrooms which are not really plants serve as one of the most important and cherished dishes which everyone likes to feed on.
“Although there are a good number of mushroom more than 14000 known species in nature, of which only 3000 are edible and even if they are edible, one should doubly make oneself sure about the type of mushroom being fed on,” he said. “Because majority of the mushrooms are poisonous in nature and even allergic too,” he added.
Baqual said mushrooms are considered a sustainable food product and particularly Gucchi which form royal dish and generally find place on the tables of elite class of society.
