India, March 3 -- Across India, chefs are stepping into the wilderness for ingredients that bring depth and tradition to their menus. Seaweed from the Konkan coast is turning into chutneys, wild mushrooms from Himachal are landing on tasting menus, and even serveware is getting a rustic makeover with pine bark replacing ceramic plates. As World Wildlife Day (today) celebrates biodiversity, foraging-the practice of gathering food from nature-is seen beyond a trend. It's a practice rooted in India's culinary past. In cities, however, it still feels like a rediscovery rather than a way of life.

For chef Thomas Zacharias, foraging was a revelation. "My first foraging experience was a game-changer. A few years into running The Bombay Canteen,...