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Fermented milk from Kenya

Mala (Kenyan cultured milk)mala

Milk is heated to 85–92 °C, cooled to 20–30 °C and seeded with mesophilic lactic cultures, then left 15 to 20 hours at ambient temperature until it sets. The curd is stirred smooth into a mild, buttery drinking milk; it was developed as a cultured milk that needs no incubator in a warm country.

Fully documentedFermented milk15 h – 21 h

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe FAO paper describes small-scale lots of 40–50 l milk heated in one can, and larger vats and plate heat exchangers; amounts of culture are not given.
Cow milkWhole, or toned with 50–75 % reconstituted milk[fao]
Mesophilic starter cultureMother culture made from freeze-dried commercial cultures[fao]
Starterdefined-culture: mesophilic freeze-dried cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 15 h – 21 h

Start
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85–92 °C

What changes: The milk is heated to 85–92 °C so the finished curd will not weep whey

Step 1 of 4
Heat the milk
Time
10–30 min
Reported
Temperature
85–92 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
Streptococcus lactis
Leuconostoc cremoris
S. diacetylactis

Output: heated milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
liquid
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

whey proteins change so the curd does not weep whey

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

Milk is heated to 85–92 °C, cooled to 20–30 °C and seeded with mesophilic lactic cultures, then left 15 to 20 hours at ambient temperature until it sets. The curd is stirred smooth into a mild, buttery drinking milk; it was developed as a cultured milk that needs no incubator in a warm country. Made in 4 steps over 15 h – 21 h. The longest step, set at ambient temperature, takes 15–20 h (Schulthess W) and runs at 15–30 °C (Schulthess W). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and subsp. cremoris and Lactococcus lactis biovar diacetylactis do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step15–20 hReported[fao]Set at ambient temperature
Temperature15–30 °CReported[fao]Set at ambient temperature

What makes this one different

Mala uses mesophilic cultures that work at room temperature, unlike yoghurt, which needs 40–45 °C. They stop at about 1.1 % lactic acid, so mala keeps a few days without a fridge.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Mango mala10–15 % fruit with 8–9 % sugar, heated to 75 °C and hot-packed.
  • Gourd maziwa lalaRaw or boiled milk left 1–5 days in a gourd washed with hot water and rubbed with the burnt end of chopped sticks (Hawaz et al. 2025).

Safety

Made from heat-treated milk with defined cultures. A Nairobi survey found the mould toxin aflatoxin M1 in lala as well as in the milk on sale.

History and sources

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

Kenya Cooperative Creameries put mala on the Nairobi market in 1984/85; within 2–3 years sales reached 60,000–70,000 l a day.

  1. [fao] Schulthess W., The role of cultured milk products in developing countries, FAO document X5661Egov
  2. [hawaz2025] Hawaz H., Bottari B., Scazzina F. and Carini E. 2025, Eastern African traditional fermented foods and beverages: advancements, challenges, and perspectives on food technology, nutrition, and safety, Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 24(2):e70137paper
  3. [lindahl2018] Lindahl J.F., Kagera I.N. and Grace D. 2018, Aflatoxin M1 levels in different marketed milk products in Nairobi, Kenya, Mycotoxin Research 34(4):289paper