Non-salted - Nepal
Gundruk
No salt at all. Gundruk is the clearest demonstration on this site that salt is a control on a fermentation rather than the thing that causes it: the leaves are packed tight, covered in warm water, and the bacteria do the rest in under a week.
4 steps, every one quoted from FAO Bulletin 134 6.3.1. The step labels are this site's; the sentences under them are not.
Salt
None added
This process is similar to sauerkraut production except that no salt is added to the shredded leaves prior to gundruk fermentation.
Not a gap in the record. The source states the figure and the figure is none, which is the whole point of this preparation: the acid still arrives, on time, with nothing added to hold the spoilage organisms back on the way. Compare it with sauerkraut, which is the same process with salt in it.
Every number the source states
- Salt
- None added
- Ambient temperature at fermentation
- about 18°C
- Water added to cover the leaves
- about 30°C
- Fermentation time
- five to seven days
- Terminal pH
- 4.0
- Acid, as lactic, by day six
- about 1%
- Microbial succession
- L. cellobiosus and L. plantarum initiate; Pediococcus pentosaceus peaks on day five
This process is similar to sauerkraut production except that no salt is added to the shredded leaves prior to gundruk fermentation.
The ambient temperature at the time of fermentation is about 18°C (Jones, 1994), (Karki, 1986).
Shredded leaves are tightly packed in an earthenware pot and warm water (at about 30°C) is added to cover all the leaves.
After five to seven days, a mild acidic taste indicates the end of fermentation and the gundruk is removed and sun-dried.
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.
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.
The fermentation is initiated by L. cellobiosus and L. plantarum, and other homolactics make a vigorous growth from the third day onwards.
Method
Numbered for your place in the list. Every sentence below is the source's own, verified against the page it came from when this table was last built from the sources.
Wilt
These leaves are allowed to wilt for one or two days and then shredded with a knife or sickle.
Pack and cover
Shredded leaves are tightly packed in an earthenware pot and warm water (at about 30°C) is added to cover all the leaves.
Keep it warm
The pot is then kept in a warm place.
Taste for the end
After five to seven days, a mild acidic taste indicates the end of fermentation and the gundruk is removed and sun-dried.
The source's own flow diagram
Five of these recipes are printed in the bulletin with a process diagram beside the prose. It is lifted whole here, cells and all, because it is the closest thing the source has to a written recipe and it sometimes carries a detail the prose leaves out.
| Stage | Note |
|---|---|
| Leafy vegetables | - |
| Wilt | One to two days |
| Shred | - |
| Placed in earthen pot | The leaves need to tightly packed |
| Cover the leaves | Cover the leaves with warm water and straw |
| Ferment | The pot is kept warm in the sun and by a fire by night |
| Add warm water | To keep the pot warm |
| Dried | Product dried on mats in the sun |
What else the source says
- How it differs from sauerkraut
- This process is similar to sauerkraut production except that no salt is added to the shredded leaves prior to gundruk fermentation.
- The succession
- The fermentation is initiated by L. cellobiosus and L. plantarum, and other homolactics make a vigorous growth from the third day onwards.
What is doing the work
- Pediococcus pentosaceus
- Lactobacillus fermentum
- Lactobacillus plantarum
- Lactobacillus casei
- Lactobacillus casei subsp. pseudoplantarum
Before you make this
This site is a reference and not a food safety authority. It reports what named sources published and does not certify that any preparation is safe. The safety page sets out what the sources themselves say about acidity, about surface growth and about when to throw something away, and equipment lists the instruments the numbers above cannot be checked without.
The full record for this pickle, including every source consulted and the ones that disagree, is on its tradition page.
Other non-salted recipes
Method and asides from FAO 134 Battcock, M. and Azam-Ali, S. (1998) Fermented fruits and vegetables: A global perspective. FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin No. 134. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. Numbers from the same source, extracted separately and listed on methodology.