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‘Fungi have a way of making familiar landscapes feel mysterious and alive again, and that sense of wonder often becomes a gateway to a deeper relationship with the city.’
That’s Malavika Bhatia’s pitch for their mushroom foraging walks in and around Delhi. Every weekend through the monsoon, they’re leading these walks for the fifth year in the city's green pockets – Sanjay Van, Jahapanah Forest, Hauz Khas Forest and Lodhi Gardens – in collaboration with Shroomery, a gourmet mushroom farm just outside Gurgaon.
What happens on these walks?
‘On the walks, I introduce people to fungi, their ecological roles as decomposers, and the vital work they do in maintaining soil health which in turn supports plants, trees, and the broader ecosystems that make urban life possible,’ says Malavika. You trudge through the mud and fallen branches, learn to label each species, spotting them on both trees and the ground. As you might have noticed already, though, biology’s not the limit here. It’s more of a shift in perspective about the city. The best part of the job, they say, is watching that shift happen in real time.
‘I really love seeing people discover mushrooms in places they've walked past hundreds of times before… Learning to recognize fungi in our urban green spaces is a way of recognizing that nature isn’t something that exists only outside cities. It's a way of connecting with the city, reminding ourselves that beneath the concrete is the land that sustains us.’ In a city like Delhi, where green spaces increasingly compete for restaurants or paved roads, this is a tremendous thing.
At the same time, the feel-good may extend from your brain to your tongue – you might find some neat treats, though only if they’re cooked well later. Malavika does caution you not to eat any mushrooms on the walk unsupervised.
Details on the walks in the 2026 season
When: Saturday mornings (9.30am-11.30am) or Sunday evenings (4.30pm-6.30pm), depending on the week, right through till the rains start to ease off. with one break for September 4-6.
How to book: Visit @shroomery.in on Instagram.
The next walk
When: August 2. 4.30pm-6.30pm.
Where: Sanjay Van.
Price: ₹1,199, and ₹599 for kids under 12.
More about Shroomery
Shroomery is a gourmet mushroom farm in Nuh, Haryana, founded by Sumit Sharan after years spent living across Southeast Asia and the US, where mushrooms showed up everywhere from broths to stir-fries. This was a contrast to India's markets, where the button mushroom reigned largely unchallenged (especially on top of Delhi’s pizzas, eh?).
That gap sent him down a research rabbit hole, including a stint at the Directorate of Mushroom Research in Solan, and eventually into growing his own. What started with a few grow blocks in his backyard is now a five-acre, chemical-free farm cultivating what's said to be the widest range of gourmet mushrooms in India, like oyster, shiitake, portobello and king oyster through to rarer varieties like lion's mane, nameko and pioppino — delivered fresh to homes and restaurant kitchens across Delhi NCR.
It turns out that’s not all the fun(gi)!
If this becomes more than a passing curiosity, mark your calendars for September 4-6: Shroom Sabha, now in its third edition, is India's first mushroom festival – a not-for-profit gathering of mushroom enthusiasts from around the country, this year in Mangalore. Details are on Instagram @shroomsabha and at https://shroomsabha.com/.