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Soy and legumes from Meghalaya, India

Tungrymbaitungrymbai

Tungrymbai is the sticky fermented soybean of the Khasi of Meghalaya. Soaked soybeans are cooked soft, drained and packed into a basket lined with fresh slamet leaves and jute, then left near or over the fireplace for three to four days while Bacillus bacteria ferment them.

Fully documentedSoy and legumes3.2 days – 4.3 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold process with no fixed amounts; nothing is added to the beans, which ferment with the microbes from the leaves, the tools and the soaking water.
SoybeansSoaked, then cooked until they can be pressed easily[sohliya2009]
Fresh slamet leaves (Phrynium pubinerve) and jute bagsTo line and cover the fermenting basket[sohliya2009]
Starterspontaneous (microbes come from the leaves, mortar and pestle, and soaking water)

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.2 days – 4.3 days

Start
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shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriaYeastsClose-up: water moving into a bean

What changes: Soybeans soak in water

Step 1 of 4
Soak the soybeans
Time
4–6 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts
Bacillus

Output: soaked soybeans.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic acid bacteria and yeasts enter with the soaking water

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Tungrymbai is the sticky fermented soybean of the Khasi of Meghalaya. Soaked soybeans are cooked soft, drained and packed into a basket lined with fresh slamet leaves and jute, then left near or over the fireplace for three to four days while Bacillus bacteria ferment them. Made in 4 steps over 3.2 days – 4.3 days. The longest step, pack in a leaf-lined basket and ferment by the fire, takes 3–4 days (Sohliya I 2009) and runs at 25–40 °C (Sohliya I 2009). Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–4 daysReported[sohliya2009]Pack in a leaf-lined basket and ferment by the fire
Temperature25–40 °CReported[sohliya2009]Pack in a leaf-lined basket and ferment by the fire

What makes this one different

Tungrymbai is Meghalaya's member of the sticky Bacillus soybean family, close to kinema. It ferments in a basket lined with slamet leaves and warmed by the household fire.

Related ferments

Safety

Like other alkaline Bacillus soybeans it has no acid to protect it. Lactic acid bacteria from tungrymbai inhibited lab strains of Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella [thokchom2012], but that does not show the food itself is protected. A DNA study of kinema, a related sticky soybean food from Sikkim, detected B. cereus, a food-borne pathogen, and S. aureus in some seasons [Kumar2019].

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
  1. [sohliya2009] Sohliya I., Joshi S.R., Bhagobaty R.K., Kumar R. 2009, Tungrymbai, a traditional fermented soybean food of the ethnic tribes of Meghalaya, Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 8(4):559–561paper
  2. [chettri2015] Chettri R., Tamang J.P. 2015, Bacillus species isolated from tungrymbai and bekang, naturally fermented soybean foods of India, Int J Food Microbiol 197:72–76, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2014.12.021 (abstract)paper
  3. [thokchom2012] Thokchom S., Joshi S.R. 2012, Antibiotic resistance and probiotic properties of dominant lactic microflora from Tungrymbai, an ethnic fermented soybean food of India, J Microbiol 50:535–539, doi:10.1007/s12275-012-1409-x (abstract)paper
  4. [Kumar2019] Kumar J., Sharma N., Kaushal G., Samurailatpam S., Sahoo D., Rai A.K., Singh S.P. 2019, Metagenomic insights into the taxonomic and functional features of kinema, a traditional fermented soybean product of Sikkim Himalaya, Frontiers in Microbiology 10:1744, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01744paper
  5. [agrahar2006] Agrahar-Murugkar D., Subbulakshmi G. 2006, Preparation techniques and nutritive value of fermented foods from the Khasi tribes of Meghalaya, Ecology of Food and Nutrition 45:27–38, doi:10.1080/03670240500408336 (abstract)paper
  6. [tamang2015] Tamang J.P. 2015, Naturally fermented ethnic soybean foods of India, Journal of Ethnic Foods 2:8–17 (review, full text read; section 5.2 on tungrymbai)paper