Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Jammu

Kalariकलाड़ी

Raw buffalo or cow milk is warmed without boiling, and boiled whey that has soured for 3–4 days is poured in, so the milk splits into curd and whey within minutes. The curd is pressed by hand into flat discs, drained in bamboo baskets and sun-dried for 3–4 days. Acid from the soured whey sets it, with no rennet in the traditional method, so kalari sits on the boundary between a fermented and an acid-set cheese. Made in 7 steps over 13 days – 38 days. The longest step, store, then fry in its own fat, takes 7–30 days (Geographical Indications Registry 2023). Lactic bacteria of the soured whey; lactococci and mesophilic and thermophilic lactobacilli are the main groups in the cheese and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. tolerans do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–30 daysSet[gi-807]Store, then fry in its own fat
Temperature40 °CReported[ahmad2014]Pour in boiled sour whey and stir
AciditypH 5–5.4Measured[punoo2018]Dry in the sun
Fully documentedCheese13 days – 38 daysGeographical Indication "Udhampur Kaladi" (India, GI application 807, registered 2023)More other cheesesMore from India

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts from the GI specification for Udhampur Kaladi (GI Journal 175, 2023), which gives 100 L of milk and 12–15 L of whey and says 1 L of milk makes 3–4 kalari. Makers scale the milk as needed.
100 LRaw buffalo or cow milk · About 80 % of kalari is made from buffalo milk and 20 % from cow milk[gi-807]
12–15 LWhey water · Kept 3–4 days so it is sour; boiled before it goes into the milk[gi-807]
Salt · The discs are dabbed in salt before frying[gi-807]
Startersoured whey ('mathar') from earlier batches, a backslop of acid; lactic acid in lab-made versions; no rennet in the traditional method

Total time across the recorded steps: 13 days – 38 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
Milk proteinGel (curd)shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Whey from the last batch stands for days and turns sour

Step 1 of 7
Keep whey until it sours
Time
3–4 days
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

If the whey is not sour enough, the milk will not curdle however much is added. Output: sour whey (mathar).

Flavour
sour
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic bacteria in the whey make acid

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

Kalari is curdled with soured whey from earlier batches, not with rennet, and then dried in the sun as small discs. It is eaten fried, not fresh. Paneer is also acid-set, but it is pressed into a block and eaten moist, while kalari's sun-drying and its sour whey give it a firmer skin and a sour note.

Milk
Raw buffalo or cow milk; goat milk in some homes
Coagulant
Soured whey kept 3–4 days; no rennet in the traditional method
Drying
Sun-dried 3–4 days

Related ferments

Variants

  • Fresh, semi-dry and dry kalariThe GI method annex names three kinds by making and drying time, from fresh to fully dry
  • Maish krej (Kashmir)The Kashmiri name for the same cheese
  • Lab-made kaladhiPasteurised buffalo milk set with lactic acid at 40 °C

Safety

Market kalari carried 3.92–4.38 log cfu/g of coliforms, and the authors found wide variation because there is no standard method. Lactic bacteria grow at room temperature and decline when the cheese is chilled or frozen, so keep it cold and fry it well before eating.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms, 3.92–4.38 log cfu/g in market samples; Enterobacteriaceae.

History and sources

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

The GI specification says kalari began in Ramnagar, Udhampur district, under the Dogra dynasty and was taken up by Gujjar and Bakarwal herders. Women make most of it, and the skill passes from mother to daughter. "Udhampur Kaladi" was registered as a Geographical Indication in 2023 (application 807, certificate 510).

  1. [gi-807] Geographical Indications Registry, India 2023, Udhampur Kaladi, GI application 807, GI Journal No. 175 (31 May 2023), pp. 62–69; applicant The Shyam Kaladi Cooperative Limitedgov
  2. [punoo2018] Punoo H.A. 2018, Physico-chemical and microbiological composition of Kradi cheese, Indian Journal of Dairy Science 71(2) (abstract)paper
  3. [mushtaq2015] Mushtaq M., Gani A., Shetty P.H., Masoodi F.A., Ahmad M. 2015, Himalayan cheese (Kalari/kradi) - Effect of different storage temperatures on its physicochemical, microbiological and antioxidant properties, LWT - Food Science and Technology 63:837–845 (abstract)paper
  4. [sharma2021] Sharma H., Bajwa J. 2021, Isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermented food of North-West Himalayas, Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology 15(3):1567–1572paper
  5. [bhagat2020] Bhagat D. et al. 2020, Probiotic properties of a phytase producing Pediococcus acidilactici strain SMVDUDB2 isolated from traditional fermented cheese product, Kalarei, Scientific Reports 10:1926paper
  6. [ahmad2014] Ahmad S.R., Pathak V., Bhat Z.F., Bukhari S.A. 2014, Effect of sorbic acid on the storage quality of Kaladhi, an acid coagulated milk product, Journal of Food Science and Technology 51:4040–4046 (abstract)paper