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Fermented milk from Bangladesh

Bogurar doi (curd of Bogra)বগুড়ার দই

Bogurar doi is the sweet set curd of Bogura in northern Bangladesh. Cow milk is held near the boil for hours until it thickens, sweetened, cooled to lukewarm and seeded with a little curd from the last batch, then set for several hours in clay pots (sora).

Fully documentedFermented milk4 h – 6 h

Recipe

Bogurar doi (curd of Bogra), a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: ROCKY, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceShop or factory make. Only a Wikipedia note gives amounts, per kg of curd - 2 kg of full-cream milk, 250 g of sugar, a pinch of baking soda and a little old curd; the other sources give the method, not quantities.
Cow milk2 kg of full-cream milk per kg of curdFAO lists cow or buffalo milk[fao-tmp][thedailystar][wp]
Sugar250 g per kg of curdAdded partway through the boiling[thedailystar][wp]
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)A pinchListed in a Wikipedia note on how to make Bogura curd[wp]
Curd from the previous batch (the seed)A little[thedailystar]
Starterbackslop: a little curd from the previous batch

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 h – 6 h

Start
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What changes: Fresh cow's milk is boiled in large quantities

Step 1 of 4
Boil the fresh milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

The Daily Star account has the fresh cow's milk boiled first in large quantities, then simmered down. Output: boiled milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

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

Bogurar doi is the sweet set curd of Bogura in northern Bangladesh. Cow milk is held near the boil for hours until it thickens, sweetened, cooled to lukewarm and seeded with a little curd from the last batch, then set for several hours in clay pots (sora). Made in 4 steps over 4 h – 6 h. The longest step, simmer the milk down to about half, takes 4–6 h (FAO 1990). Streptococcus and Lactobacillus, the top genera in Bangladeshi sweet and sour yogurt and Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, the possible organisms in litmus-milk tests of one Bogra dahi brand (Maharam Ali) and of a university farm dahi from Mymensingh do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step4–6 hReported[fao-tmp]Simmer the milk down to about half
AciditypH 3.9–4.2Measured[afrin2016]Seed with old curd and set in clay pots

What makes this one different

Unlike mishti doi, which FAO describes as milk sweetened before boiling and incubated 12–15 hours at 40–45 °C, Bogurar doi starts from milk held near the boil for 4–6 hours until it thickens, which gives its firm body.

Related ferments

Safety

Afrin et al. (2016) tested nine dahi samples, three of them from Bogra. Coliforms were found in all nine, at 7–17.67 cfu/mL, and the authors say this points to contamination during production or handling. They report the highest total bacterial counts in the Bogra samples, and no yeast or mould in any sample. A DNA sequencing study of seven Bangladeshi yogurt brands, not specific to Bogura, did find yeasts. It also found Aeromonas and Enterobacter, mostly in one brand, and notes that Aeromonas can cause gut infection.

Hazards the sources name: Coliform bacteria (found at low counts in all dahi samples, including Bogra's).

History and sources

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

Wikipedia names Ghetu Ghosh of Sherpur as the inventor of the curd of Bogra and says fewer Ghosh family members are among the makers now. Bogura is often called the capital of yogurt, with about 50 tonnes a day made in around 400 factories (The Business Standard, July 2023). The Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks issued the geographical indication certificate on 25 June, says that report; Wikipedia gives 26 June 2023, so the exact day is not settled.

  1. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section II 2.4 'Bogurar dohi / natural yoghurt / susu madu klenceng'gov
  2. [afrin2016] Afrin S., Habib M.R., Islam M.A., Harun-ur-Rashid M. 2016, Physical, chemical and microbiological qualities of dahi collected from Bogra and Mymensingh district of Bangladesh, Asian-Australasian Journal of Bioscience and Biotechnology 1(1):134–140, doi:10.3329/aajbb.v1i1.61546paper
  3. [pmc8608820] Insights into the nutritional properties and microbiome diversity in sweet and sour yogurt manufactured in Bangladesh, Scientific Reports 11 (2021), doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01852-9paper
  4. [thedailystar] The Daily Star, Cultural heritage in a bowl: the taste of Bogura'r doiweb
  5. [tbsnews] The Business Standard 2023, Bogura yogurt, Chapainawabganj's Langra, Ashwina get GI tagweb
  6. [wp] Wikipedia, Bogurar doi (history, makers and the recipe note)wiki