Typical Nepali Food ‘Gundruk’: Know Gunduk making process

A ‘vegetable’ that has made Nepal an internationally recognized dish.” where Nepalis reach, Gundruk also reaches!”is the popular saying . Historians link Gundruk’s ‘origin’ to the wars that took place during the unification of Nepal.When King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha attacked Kirtipur for the first time, there was a lot of greenery in the fields of the people of Kirtipur. The Kirtipurs were not able to pick greens, the Gorkhalis attacked.

After the attack on them, the people of Kirtipur also had to retaliate. In the absence of sufficient military power, all the women and children of Kirtipur had to take part in the war. Fearing that outsiders would come and steal food and vegetables when they went to war, the people of Kirtipur devised a plan – to go to war by filling vegetables with food in a ditch!After that, everyone picked up the greens and filled them in the pit.

When they returned from the battle, they all dug a hole and took out the hidden food.Among the food items taken out, grains including rice could be cooked. However, the hidden greens melted in the pit and became useless.The people of Kirtipur ate rice and bread without vegetables to satisfy their hunger for a few days. But, after a few days, vegetables were needed.

Historians link Gundruk’s ‘origin’ to the wars that took place during the unification of Nepal.When King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha attacked Kirtipur for the first time, there was a lot of greenery in the fields of the people of Kirtipur. The Kirtipurs were not able to pick greens, the Gorkhalis attacked .After the attack on them, the people of Kirtipur also had to retaliate. In the absence of sufficient military power, all the women and children of Kirtipur had to take part in the war. Fearing that outsiders would come and steal food and vegetables when they went to war, the people of Kirtipur devised a plan – to go to war by filling vegetables with food in a ditch

The greens taken out of the pit were scattered in the fields and kept there. The greens, which had become useless after being placed in the pit, were thrown in the field and dried by the sun. Later, some people picked the same dried greens from their fields and started cooking them.Slightly sour, but very sweet-tasting dried greens (vegetables) became popular all over Kirtipur. In time, its name remained Gundruk. Which has now become a fundamental dish of ordinary Nepalis.

Methods for making ‘Gundruk’

• Wash spinach with clean water and check the damage part of it to avoid contamination
• Remove excess water .You dont need to dry it completely
• Chop it roughly but this step is optional
• In a single layer ,lay the leaves on the tray
• Make the leaves completely dehydrated for 6 hour
• Keep it in the tighen jar or Big bottels