🧀 Kurt

Kurt is a dried fermented milk product of the peoples of Central Asia: hard, salty balls or patties of strained sour milk. Soured milk, katyk or buttermilk is boiled or simply strained through cloth to remove the whey; the thick mass is salted, rolled into balls and dried in the sun and wind, sometimes lightly smoked. Dried kurt keeps for months.

Nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples have long used this way of preserving milk protein for winter and for travel: Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Uzbeks, Karakalpaks and also Mongols (aaruul). Related products are known across a vast area, from Iranian kashk and Caucasian dried products to Middle Eastern jameed.

Unlike fresh curd cheese, kurt has almost no moisture and is salty and dense; it is sucked or chewed as a snack. Kurt is also soaked and ground in water to make a fermented milk sauce or a base for soups and dishes (such as qurutob in Tajikistan).