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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Tibetan Plateau

Chura kampo / chura loenpachura kampo

After yak or dri milk is soured and churned for butter, the buttermilk or skim milk is warmed with a little sour milk until curd forms, and the curd is drained in a basket or cloth bag. Eaten fresh and soft it is chura loenpa; shaped into pieces and dried hard in the sun and wind it becomes chura kampo, a herders' snack that keeps a long time. Made in 5 steps over 5 days – 7 days. The longest step, shape and dry in the sun, takes 5–7 days (Kanetkar P. et al. 2023). Lactococcus, Lactobacillus and Acetobacter, the dominant bacteria in Tibetan qula samples and Lactobacillus and Streptococcus, the most abundant genera in qula from Tibetan areas of Gansu do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step5–7 daysReported[kanetkar2023]Shape and dry in the sun
Temperature50–60 °CReported[fao-yak2003]Warm with sour milk until curd forms

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHerders' practice with no fixed recipe or amounts.
Buttermilk or skimmed yak milk · Left after the butter is churned; occasionally whole milk[fao-yak2003]
Sour milk · A little is added to the warm milk to make it curdle[fao-yak2003]
Starter: back-slopping with a little sour milk or finished product

Total time across the recorded steps: 5 days – 7 days

Start
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What changes: Churning splits the soured milk into butter and buttermilk

Step 1 of 5
Churn the soured milk for butter
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The butter is the main product; the buttermilk (dara) or skimmed milk left over makes the chura. Output: butter and buttermilk.

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

Chura is made from what is left after butter making, so it is lean, and it sets by souring and gentle heat instead of rennet. Tibetans keep both a soft fresh form and a rock-hard dried form; an FAO survey notes that Tibet makes a pliable form besides the hard chhurpi of Nepal and Bhutan.

Milk
Buttermilk or skimmed milk of yak or dri, sometimes whole milk
Forms
Chura loenpa (fresh, soft) and chura kampo (dried, hard)
Composition
Dried residue about 55 % protein and 21 % lactose (FAO); half-dried residue 20–30 % water, sometimes 40 %

Related ferments

Variants

  • Chura loenpaThe fresh, soft curd, eaten like cottage cheese or cooked in dishes.
  • Chura kampoThe dried, hard form in pieces, strips or strung cubes.
  • Whole-milk churaMade from whole milk; dries yellow and brittle instead of white and hard.

Safety

Drying is the preservation step; hard dried pieces keep because little water is left. An FAO survey says soft Himalayan curd keeps only 2–3 days in warm weather, or up to 2 weeks in the cold, so fresh chura should be eaten soon or dried.

History and sources

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

Butter is the main product of yak milk across the Tibetan Plateau, and chura makes use of the buttermilk that remains. Dried curd is light and keeps, so herders carry it on long trips with their animals and mix it into tsampa with butter and tea.

  1. [fao-yak2003] Wiener G., Han J., Long R. 2003, The Yak, 2nd edition, chapter 10 Products from yak and their utilization, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, RAP Publication 2003/06book
  2. [fao1990] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section 7.6 Himalayan region - Nepal and Bhutanbook
  3. [kanetkar2023] Kanetkar P. et al. 2023, Appraisal of some ethnic milk products from minor milch animal species around the world, a review, Journal of Ethnic Foods 10:40, table 2paper
  4. [huang2025] Huang X. et al. 2025, Exploring the rare and abundant bacterial community structures and their metabolic differences in various types of qula cheese, Food Research International 222:117633 (abstract)paper
  5. [li2023] Li A. et al. 2023, Tibetan Plateau yak milk, a comprehensive review of nutritional values, health benefits, and processing technology, Food Chemistry X 20:100919paper
  6. [wp] Wikipedia, Chura kampo and Chura loenpa (names only)wiki