LadakhFine Foods
Green valley between arid mountains in Ladakh
Saspol Village and Surrounds · 3,300–4,000 m

Food that grows where almost nothing does.

Hand-picked seabuckthorn, apricots, capers and herbs, grown by local Ladakhi families — small batch, one season at a time.

Small batch

When a season sells out, it's gone until next year.

Named villages

Every jar carries its village and its elevation.

This season

What the valley gave us

Nine things, picked between May and November. Quantities are what the harvest allowed — not what a spreadsheet asked for.

Prices are not confirmed. This page does not take orders.

Enquire by email

Dried seabuckthorn berries and powder from Nubra Valley
Peak season

Dried Seabuckthorn Berries and Powder

Nubra Valley · 3,100 mNot confirmed

Wild berries picked after the first frost, sun-dried and milled. Sharp, resinous, absurdly high in vitamin C. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
200 g · berries & powderNot confirmed
Ripe Halman apricots on the tree in Turtuk
Small batch

Sun-Dried Apricots

Turtuk · 3,050 mNot confirmed

Halman apricots, stone-in, dried whole on wooden racks. No sulphur, no sugar, no gloss. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
400 g pouchNot confirmed
Wild caper plant with white flowers and green buds
Foraged

Wild Himalayan Capers

Sham Valley · 3,300 mNot confirmed

Kabra buds gathered from rock crevices and brined in mountain salt. Tiny, firm, floral. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
180 g jarNot confirmed
Close-up of raw dark glossy purified shilajit resin

Purified Shilajit Resin

Changthang · 4,200 mNot confirmed

Sun-dried and triple-filtered resin from high mineral seams. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
30 g glass jarNot confirmed
Solja mountain tea tin from Sumur
Hand-rolled

Solja Mountain Tea

Sumur · 3,400 mNot confirmed

Green tea blended with Ladakhi rose and seabuckthorn leaf — the cup poured in every kitchen here. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
100 g tinNot confirmed
Wild herb trio from Domkhar
Aromatic

Wild Herb Trio

Domkhar · 3,600 mNot confirmed

Mountain thyme, wild mint and Himalayan oregano, cut and dried within a day of picking. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
3 × 40 gNot confirmed
Woman preparing tomatoes for sun-drying on a mesh tarp in Ladakh
Sun-dried

Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Diskit · 3,150 mNot confirmed

Grown in cold-desert greenhouses, split and left to the high-altitude sun for eleven days. Dense and sweet. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
200 g pouchNot confirmed
Apricot kernels from Turtuk
Bitter-sweet

Apricot Kernels

Turtuk · 3,050 mNot confirmed

Cracked by hand from the same Halman stones. Sweet-variety kernels — eat as they are, or grind into soup. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
250 g pouchNot confirmed
Apricot kernel oil bottle from Turtuk
Cold-pressed

Apricot Kernel Oil

Turtuk · 3,050 mNot confirmed

Pressed cold from kernels, nothing added. Light and nutty in the kitchen, weightless on skin. Not confirmed

Price not confirmed
100 ml amber bottleNot confirmed
Mountain stream, golden field and peaks near Saspol
Halved sun-dried tomatoes drying on black mesh
From the valley

Nine weeks of summer, and we make them count.

Our orchards sit above 3,200 metres, where the air is thin and the sun is fierce. Fruit here grows slowly and small — and it tastes like it. Apricots that need no sugar. Berries so sour they make you laugh, then keep you warm all winter.

We dry on wooden racks in open mountain air, the way my grandmother did. Nothing is added. Nothing is rushed. When a batch ends, we tell you it ended.

Villages
Saspol, Alchi, Thimosgang, Hemichukpachan
Elevation
3,200 – 4,200 m
Method
Hand-picked, air-dried, unrefined
Jars of apricot preserve lined on a stone wall in Ladakh

The harvest calendar

Seasonal means seasonal. Here's when each thing is picked, and roughly when it runs out.

Crop
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Wild capers
Mountain herbs
Apricots & kernels
Tomatoes
Tea leaf
Seabuckthorn
Shilajit
Apricot shop interior with shelves of jam and preserves in Ladakh
The cooperative

Local Ladakhi families, one price, agreed before the season starts.

We buy at a rate set with the growers in spring, not haggled at the roadside in autumn. It's slower and it costs more. It's also the only reason the young people in these villages still pick.

4

valleys we work in — Nubra, Sham, Changthang and Zanskar.

0

additives, preservatives or added sugar in anything we sell.