''Gundruk'' ( ne, गुन्द्रुक ) is a fermented leafy green vegetable originated in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

. Alongside

, it is also popular in Gorkhali or Nepalese diaspora households in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and other parts of the world. The annual production of gundruk in Nepal is estimated at 2,000 tons and most of the production is carried out at the household level. Gundruk is obtained from the

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

of leafy

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the edible flower, flowers, ...

s (''saag''; ne, साग). It is served as a side dish with the main meal and is also used as an appetizer. Gundruk is an important source of minerals, particularly during the off-season when the

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

consists of mostly

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

s and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

, which tend to be low in

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

Raw material preparation

In the months of October and November, during the

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most l ...

of the first broad mustard, mustard green,

radish The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, being mostly eaten raw ...

and

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – t ...

leaves, large quantities of leaves accumulate — much more than can be consumed fresh. These leaves are allowed to wilt for one or two days and are then shredded with a knife or sickle. Not only the leaves of the radish but also the roots are used to make a better quality gundruk. The roots of the radish can be mixed with the leaves and smashed together. When it is smashed, care should be taken not to make the pieces too small. In the mountainous regions of the central part of Nepal, the smashed radish and leaves are put into an earthenware container, compressed, and the mouth of container is closed tightly. It is then buried in a safe and sunny place. It may be placed in an open place. After a few days, the acidity can be tasted, or this can be gauged from its smell. It is then dried in sunlight. Gundruk prepared in this manner is more tasty, more flavorsome and more acidic.

Processing

The shredded leaves are tightly packed in an earthenware pot, and warm water (at about 30 °C) is added to cover all the leaves. The pot is then kept in a warm place. After a week, a mild acidic taste indicates the end of fermentation and the Gundruk is removed and dried in the sun. This process is similar to

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ...

kimchi ''Kimchi'' (; ko, 김치, gimchi, ), is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...

production except that no salt is added to the shredded leaves before the start of gundruk fermentation. The ambient temperature at the time of fermentation is about 18 °C. '' Pediococcus'' and ''

Lactobacillus ''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically div ...

'' species are the predominant

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in old ...

s active during Gundruk fermentation. During fermentation, the pH drops slowly to a final value of 4.0 and the amount of acid (as lactic) increases to about 1% on the sixth day. It has been found that a disadvantage with the traditional process of Gundruk fermentation is the loss of 90% of the

carotenoid Carotenoids (), also called tetraterpenoids, are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, and fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, ...

s, probably during sun-drying. Improved methods of drying might reduce the vitamin loss.

References

External links

Gundruk - technical brief from Practical Action

Gundruk
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109113755/https://neprecipe.com/gundruk-ko-jhol/ , date=2020-11-09 Nepalese cuisine Nepalese curries Fermented foods

Raw material preparation

Processing

See also

References

External links