Northeast Indian

Gundruk Achar (Fermented Mustard Green Pickle)

Name: Gundruk Achar (Fermented Mustard Green Pickle)
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Northeast Indian
Ingredients: 1 cup dried gundruk (fermented mustard greens); 1 tbsp mustard oil; 1 tomato; 2 garlic cloves; 1 green chili; 1/2 cup water; 1/4 tsp salt

Bandana Gogoi @bandana_ghy

Gundruk Achar (Fermented Mustard Green Pickle) is Northeast Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the condiment. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

20 min Medium Diabetic friendly Low carb Vegetarian Vegan Halal Gluten free Dairy free Pescatarian

Ingredients

Serves

The quantities follow this count.

1 cup dried gundruk (fermented mustard greens)
1 tbsp mustard oil
1 tomato
2 garlic cloves
1 green chili
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt

How to cook it

Soak the dried gundruk in warm water for 15 minutes, then squeeze out the excess water and chop roughly.
Heat the mustard oil in a small pan and fry the crushed garlic and chopped chili for a few seconds.
Add the chopped tomato and cook until it softens and breaks down.
Stir in the gundruk and the water and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 8 minutes.
Season with salt, tasting first since the fermented greens are already tangy and salty.
Cool slightly and serve as a tangy side alongside dal and rice.

Watch how to cook Gundruk Achar (Fermented Mustard Green Pickle)

Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.

Serve it with

A Northeast Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Gundruk Achar (Fermented Mustard Green Pickle), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

The dish at the centre
- Akhuni Yam (Fermented Soybean with Yam and Mustard Greens)
  
  25 min
The cooked vegetable
- Akhuni Yam (Fermented Soybean with Yam and Mustard Greens)
  
  25 min
The protein alongside
- Lauki Chana Dal (Bottle Gourd and Lentils)
  
  45 min
What it is eaten with
- Galho (One Pot Rice, Greens and Chicken Porridge)
  
  40 min

A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Gundruk Achar (Fermented Mustard Green Pickle) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.

Every tracked allergen in Gundruk Achar (Fermented Mustard Green Pickle)
Allergen	In this dish
Peanuts	No
Tree nuts	No
Dairy	No
Gluten	No
Shellfish	No
Eggs	No
Soy	No
Fish	No
Sesame	No
Coconut	No

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Estimated, per serving

Calories: 60 kcal
Protein: 2 g
Carbs: 6 g
Fat: 3 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugar: 1 g
Sodium: 180 mg
Saturated fat: 0 g

Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.

When to cook it

Gundruk Achar (Fermented Mustard Green Pickle) takes about 20 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.