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Fermented milk from Sri Lanka

Meekiri (Sri Lankan buffalo curd)මී කිරි

Meekiri is a firm, sour curd made from buffalo milk in Sri Lanka. The milk is heated to about 90–92 °C, cooled to 42 °C, seeded with the previous day's curd and set in clay or plastic pots at room temperature.

Fully documentedFermented milk2 days – 3 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedCottage method with no fixed amounts; Adikari et al. (2021) state that the inoculation rate is undefined in cottage-level production.
Fresh buffalo milkHigher in fat and protein than cow's milk, so the curd is firmer and the yield higher[slu]
StarterA small portion of the previous day's curd (backslopping) at cottage level; freeze-dried cultures are also used[pmc8503854][slu][hendawitharana2012]
Starterbackslop: a small portion of the previous day's coagulum

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days – 3 days

Start
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90–92 °C

What changes: Buffalo milk is held at about 90–92 °C for 10–15 minutes

Step 1 of 4
Heat the buffalo milk
Time
10–15 min
Reported
Temperature
90–92 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. fermentum
L. curvatus
L. acidophilus
L. plantarum
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: heated milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

heat kills most of the milk's own bacteria

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

Meekiri is a firm, sour curd made from buffalo milk in Sri Lanka. The milk is heated to about 90–92 °C, cooled to 42 °C, seeded with the previous day's curd and set in clay or plastic pots at room temperature. Made in 4 steps over 2 days – 3 days. The longest step, cool and keep, takes 24 h – 2 days (Hallqvist J. 2019) and runs at 4–6 °C (Hallqvist J. 2019). Limosilactobacillus fermentum and Latilactobacillus curvatus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 2 daysReported[slu]Cool and keep
Temperature4–6 °CReported[slu]Cool and keep

What makes this one different

Meekiri is made from buffalo milk, so it is whiter, slightly firmer, sourer and weeps less whey than deekiri, the yellower, milder curd made from cow's milk.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Deekiri (cow-milk curd)Yellower, milder and softer than meekiri, with more whey separation (Hallqvist 2019).

Safety

The milk is heated to about 90–92 °C before seeding. Chilled meekiri keeps about 7 days; at room temperature only 1–3 days.

History and sources

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

Curd is one of the oldest fermented milk products in Sri Lanka and is made both on farms and by small commercial producers.

  1. [pmc8503854] Adikari A.M.M.U. et al. 2021, Isolation, identification and characterization of Lactobacillus species diversity from Meekiri, traditional fermented buffalo milk gels in Sri Lanka, Heliyon 7(10):e08136 (read via Europe PMC full text, PMC8503854)paper
  2. [slu] Hallqvist J. 2019, The importance of buffalo milk in the curd manufacture of Sri Lanka, student thesis, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsalapaper
  3. [hendawitharana2012] Hendawitharana D.Y. 2012, A study on starter cultures used in buffalo curd production based on market samples, MSc thesis in Food Science and Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura (abstract and introduction)paper