Kangina

Ancient Afghan method of preserving fresh fruit

This following content is reproduced in its entirety from a web page created by its owner and author, to whom full authorship credit if hereby gratefully acknowledged. The article is sourced from his website: https://www.kylevialli.com/blog

---

THIS TRADITIONAL AFGHAN METHOD OF KEEPING FRUIT FRESH WILL BLOW YOUR MIND

What do you do if you want to prolong the shelf life of your favourite seasonal fruits? Putting the fruit in the fridge can help extend its lifespan for a week or so beyond the kitchen fruit bowl. Longer than that, you would certainly consider freezing, or, if you are ok with a major change in taste and consistency, dehydration would be an alternative. Aside from the longer storage capacities of certain thick-skinned apple and pear varieties, we would be hard-pushed to keep our perishable fresh fruit in a succulent, ripe state for longer than a couple of weeks without one of the aforementioned technological interventions. In northern Afghanistan however, there heralds a surprising traditional practice that very effectively preserves the local fruits of summer and early autumn into the starker winter months and beyond. The English transliteration (for there is no direct English word) for this method is known as kangina (or gangina).

Looking like loaves of sourdough bread from a little distance, each kangina is made of two layers of wet clay-rich mud, with each layer being molded into a bowl shape and then put into the sun to bake. When each pair of rustic “earthenware bowls” is completely dried, around 1kg of ripe, pert, unbruised fruit – most Afghans prefer to use certain varieties of grapes – are put inside, and then sealed with another serving of mud to form a single closed, air-tight vessel. The kangina is then stored in a cool, cellar-like space, away from direct sunlight, with some people preferring to actually bury the vessels underground.

Northern Afghan peoples have used this method for hundreds of years to keep their grapes fresh beyond the growing season. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that the geographical area of Afghanistan has been growing grapes since at least 2000BC, making it one of the most ancient grape growing areas on the planet. While raisins are also very popular in Afghanistan, by the time the winter and spring rolls in, with fresh fruit scarce, the ripe, juicy grapes, snuggly housed in their kangina, are highly sought after. In these cold months, kangina marketplaces across the north, beguile locals with a taste of the sweet succulence of summer and many farmers make a good income from the kangina method of preservation, almost unknown outside of Afghanistan.

[End of article]

---

I have only just learned that this method of food preservation exists; I have no direct experience with it, and can’t provide any advice on its efficacy. It appears that the fruit must be unbruised, and presumably with intact (unbroken) skins. The article doesn’t say the fruit should be washed and dried, but at a minimum, it probably should be cleaned of dirt and insects. I would expect that a minimum of handling would be advisable to reduce bruising and contamination.

There are many questions. “A mixture of clay/mud and straw” raises the question of proportions. What happens if a straw provides an air passage from the exterior to the interior, or a way for bugs to get in? The article specifies “air-tight”, so I expect that the purpose of the straw is as a binder to provide some tensile strength to hold the package together. (Mud/clay has low tensile strength.) Perhaps a coarse fabric (like burlap) would be preferable.

Storage of the sealed containers in a cool, dry place seems to be essential. Something like a subterranean root cellar probably would be ideal. Elsewhere I found a source that said the Afghan grape cultivars that do well with this method have relatively thick skins (compared to, say, many wine grape varieties), so grapes with fragile skins might be less suitable. Experimentation is advisable.

Anyhow, this seems like a proven method of preserving grapes and probably other fruits without the need for refrigeration, and under proper conditions.