How to make Siberian ‘kurut’ cheese at home (RECIPE)

Many centuries ago the nomadic peoples of the Altai Region in Siberia learned to preserve milk in such a way that it retained its nutritional qualities for a long time. One such method was how they made kurut cheese.

The word "kurut" comes from the Turkic word that means "dry". This is related to the method of its preparation – drying cheese – which is known to many Central Asian peoples.

Kurut is made of milk fermented in a special way. After the thick fermented mass is strained in a linen bag, it’s placed in a special room where it’s dried and smoked on a grate at a low temperature. This is how traditional Altai kurut cheese is made. Brown in color, it has a salty taste with a smoky aroma and a dense consistency. Due to the fact that it’s also dry, kurut can be easily stored for a year.

Today, we’ll make a homemade version of kurut that can be found in the markets and stores of Altai. These small white dense balls are from sour fermented milk and then dried in the sun. Modern housewives make it in their oven at home. This version of kurut, however, won't have that smoky aroma like the original version does at home in Altai.

To speed up the process, I skipped the stage of preparing simple sour milk and used a ready-made sour-milk product from the store – liquid quark. It can serve as a suitable equivalent of dense cottage cheese that’s the basis of your cheese balls.

The preparation process is quite simple but takes several days and will require the use of an oven at a low temperature. It’s better to use quark with low fat content. Add salt according to taste, but traditionally this cheese is salty, so you’re going to have to add a sufficient amount.

When you’re finished you’ll end up with a healthy nourishing appetizer. These cheese balls can be served as part of a savory platter or utilized as a delightful ingredient to enhance a vegetable salad.

Ingredients for 12 small curd balls:

Liquid quark (low fat) - 500g
Salt - 1/2 tsp (to taste)
Gauze or meshed cotton cloth

Preparation:

1. Combine the salt and quark, and stir.

2. Place the creamy liquid mixture in the gauze.

3. Tie the edges and hang over a bowl to allow the liquid whey to run off. Leave for 24 to 30 hours.

4. The mixture will thicken and shrink in volume.

5. Roll into small balls with your hands. I made 12 balls, 18 grams each. Place them on a tray and put them in a convection oven at 50-70℃ for a few hours.

6. On the first day, I dried the balls for about 3 hours, leaving them overnight at room temperature. On the second day, I dried them for another 2 hours. In the end, you can be flexible with the drying time.

7. The cheese will become dense, and should stop sticking to your hands. Also, it should turn a little yellow in color.

8. Don’t be shy; taste it immediately!

9. Go ahead and serve kurut as part of a savory appetizer platter.

10. Or use it to enhance your vegetable salad.

How to make Siberian ‘kurut’ cheese at home (RECIPE)

Ingredients for 12 small curd balls:

Preparation:

READ MORE:How to make Altai’s traditional lamb meat soup ‘kocho’ (RECIPE)