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Cheese from Jammu

Kalariकलाड़ी

Raw buffalo or cow milk is warmed without boiling, and boiled whey that has soured for 3–4 days is poured in, so the milk splits into curd and whey within minutes. The curd is pressed by hand into flat discs, drained in bamboo baskets and sun-dried for 3–4 days. Acid from the soured whey sets it, with no rennet in the traditional method, so kalari sits on the boundary between a fermented and an acid-set cheese.

Fully documentedCheese6 days – 8 daysGeographical Indication "Udhampur Kaladi" (India, GI application 807, registered 2023)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts from the GI specification for Udhampur Kaladi (GI Journal 175, 2023), which gives 100 L of milk and 12–15 L of whey and says 1 L of milk makes 3–4 kalari. Makers scale the milk as needed.
Raw buffalo or cow milk100 LAbout 80 % of kalari is made from buffalo milk and 20 % from cow milk[gi-807]
Whey water12–15 LKept 3–4 days so it is sour; boiled before it goes into the milk[gi-807]
SaltThe discs are dabbed in salt before frying[gi-807]
Startersoured whey (whey water kept 3–4 days), which the GI calls the traditional and proper way to curdle; the GI also names sour milk or curd ('mathar') as the souring agent in older accounts; lactic acid in lab-made versions; no rennet in the whey-water method

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 days – 8 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriaMilk proteinGel (curd)

What changes: Whey stands for 3–4 days and turns sour

Step 1 of 7
Keep whey until it sours
Time
3–4 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

If the whey is not sour enough, the milk will not curdle however much is added. Output: sour whey.

Flavour
sour
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic bacteria in the whey make acid

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

Raw buffalo or cow milk is warmed without boiling, and boiled whey that has soured for 3–4 days is poured in, so the milk splits into curd and whey within minutes. The curd is pressed by hand into flat discs, drained in bamboo baskets and sun-dried for 3–4 days. Acid from the soured whey sets it, with no rennet in the traditional method, so kalari sits on the boundary between a fermented and an acid-set cheese. Made in 7 steps over 6 days – 8 days. The longest step, keep whey until it sours, takes 3–4 days (Geographical Indications Registry 2023). Lactococci, mesophilic lactobacilli and thermophilic lactobacilli, counted in kalari in a storage study and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. tolerans do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–4 daysReported[gi-807]Keep whey until it sours
AciditypH 5–5.4Measured[punoo2018]Dry in the sun

What makes this one different

Kalari is curdled with soured whey, not with rennet, and then dried in the sun as small discs. It is eaten fried, not fresh. Paneer is also acid-set, but it is pressed into a block and eaten moist, while kalari's sun-drying and its sour whey give it a firmer skin and a sour note.

Milk
Raw buffalo or cow milk; goat milk in some homes
Coagulant
Soured whey kept 3–4 days; no rennet in the traditional method
Drying
Sun-dried 3–4 days

Related ferments

Variants

  • Fresh, semi-dry and dry kalariThe GI method annex names three kinds by making and drying time, from fresh to fully dry
  • Maish krej (Kashmir)The Kashmiri name for the same cheese
  • Lab-made kaladhiPasteurised buffalo milk set with lactic acid at 40 °C

Made the kalari way

Safety

Market kalari carried 3.92–4.38 log cfu/g of coliforms, and the authors found wide variation because there is no standard production procedure.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms, 3.92–4.38 log cfu/g in market samples; Enterobacteriaceae.

History and sources

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

The GI specification says kalari began in Ramnagar, Udhampur district, under the Dogra dynasty and was taken up by Gujjar and Bakarwal herders. Women make most of it, and the skill passes from mother to daughter. "Udhampur Kaladi" was registered as a Geographical Indication in 2023 (application 807, certificate 510).

  1. [gi-807] Geographical Indications Registry, India 2023, Udhampur Kaladi, GI application 807, GI Journal No. 175 (31 May 2023), pp. 62–69; applicant The Shyam Kaladi Cooperative Limitedgov
  2. [punoo2018] Punoo H.A. 2018, Physico-chemical and microbiological composition of Kradi cheese, Indian Journal of Dairy Science 71(2) (abstract)paper
  3. [mushtaq2015] Mushtaq M., Gani A., Shetty P.H., Masoodi F.A., Ahmad M. 2015, Himalayan cheese (Kalari/kradi) - Effect of different storage temperatures on its physicochemical, microbiological and antioxidant properties, LWT - Food Science and Technology 63:837–845 (abstract)paper
  4. [sharma2021] Sharma H., Bajwa J. 2021, Isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermented food of North-West Himalayas, Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology 15(3):1567–1572paper
  5. [bhagat2020] Bhagat D. et al. 2020, Probiotic properties of a phytase producing Pediococcus acidilactici strain SMVDUDB2 isolated from traditional fermented cheese product, Kalarei, Scientific Reports 10:1926paper
  6. [ahmad2014] Ahmad S.R., Pathak V., Bhat Z.F., Bukhari S.A. 2014, Effect of sorbic acid on the storage quality of Kaladhi, an acid coagulated milk product, Journal of Food Science and Technology 51:4040–4046 (abstract)paper