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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan

Chalap (shalap, chalop)чалап

Chalap is a cold, sour drink made by rubbing a thick fermented milk, suzma or ayran, with a little water until smooth and then thinning it with much more water. It has no fermentation of its own, so it is a boundary entry, a drink mixed from a ferment. Kyrgyz cookbooks give one part suzma to ten parts water. Made in 4 steps over 24 h. The longest step, serve cold, before the protein settles, takes 24 h (Batkibekova M.B 2005) and runs at up to 6 °C (Batkibekova M.B 2005). The lactic bacteria of the suzma or ayran used does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 hReported[kg736]Serve cold, before the protein settles
Temperatureup to 6 °CReported[kg736]Serve cold, before the protein settles

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceProportion from the Kyrgyz cookbooks cited in two Kyrgyz patents; one patent's worked example uses 1 part suzma to 4 parts water.
1 partSuzma or ayran[kg736][kg1084]
10 partsWater · Traditional proportion from Kyrgyz cookbooks (Borubaev 1982; Ibraimova 1989)[kg736][kg1084]
To tasteSalt[wp-ru]
Starternone of its own: a dilution of an already fermented milk (suzma, ayran or shubat)

Total time across the recorded steps: 24 h

Start
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What changes: Starting material: thick fermented milk, suzma or ayran

Step 1 of 4
Take the fermented milk base
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

See the suzma, ayran and shubat entries for how the base is made. Output: suzma or ayran.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

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

What makes this one different

Chalap is a diluted drink, not a ferment in itself. It is thinner than ayran because the base is cut with about ten times its weight of water, and it is made from strained suzma rather than from milk.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Kazakh shalap from shubatUses camel shubat instead of ayran (ru.wikipedia, citing Massaget.kz 2020).
  • Chalap with wheySweet cheese whey replaces the water, with pectin and agar to keep it from separating (Kyrgyz patent 736).
  • Chalap with vegetable brineAyran or suzma thinned with sour cabbage, cucumber or tomato brine (Kyrgyz patent 1084).
  • Uzbek chalop (cold soup)Katyk with young vegetables and herbs, eaten as a soup.

Safety

Chalap is only as safe as its base and its water, since no heating or souring follows the mixing. Use clean, safe water and keep it cold.

History and sources

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

Kyrgyz cookbooks of 1982 and 1989 give the 1 to 10 recipe, and note it is made at home and rarely made on an industrial scale (as cited in Kyrgyz patents 736 and 1084). Pokhlebkin's culinary dictionaries also describe it (ru.wikipedia).

  1. [kg736] Batkibekova M.B., Musulmanova M.M. et al., Kyrgyz patent KG 736 C1 (2005), Fermented milk drink and composition for its stabilisation (citing Borubaev T., Kirgizskaya kukhnya, Frunze 1982, p. 157)gov
  2. [kg1084] Togorokbaev D.T., Kyrgyz patent KG 1084 C1 (2008), Fermented milk drink (citing Ibraimova S.Sh., Sovremennaya kirgizskaya kukhnya, Frunze 1989, p. 179)gov
  3. [wp-ru] ru.wikipedia, Чалап (citing Pokhlebkin 1983, 1988; Massaget.kz 2020)wiki