Home-made Qurt is a traditional Russian (from the Tatar peoples) recipe for a classic snack or ingredients of dried qatiq (thickened yoghurt). The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Russian version of: Home-made Qurt.
(click this button to prevent the screen from sleeping so Cook Mode is 'ON')
Qurt, also called qurut or kurt, derives from the word for “dry” in many Turkic languages and is made by straining fermented milk from a sheep, goat, cow, camel, or mare until it’s thick enough to be rolled into balls and dried in the sun. In a 13th-century report from the Mongol empire, the Flemish Franciscan missionary Friar William of Rubruck described the result as “hard as iron slag.” Different variations exist throughout Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East, including the Persian kashk, Jordanian jameed, and Armenian chortan.
Hardened qurt is also highly versatile: It lasts for years without refrigeration and can be eaten straight, dissolved in boiling water to create a beverage, or mixed into traditional soups and dishes like Tajik qurutob.
Central Asian markets like the Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, showcase the vast array of qurt available: softer “new” qurt; rock-hard “stone” qurt, which may have been dried for years; light brown smoked qurt, which Sharipova recommends pairing with beer; qurt with red pepper, coriander, dill, mint, or basil; and shapes ranging from tiny spheres to apple-sized balls.
This recipe originates with the Russian Tatars, a group of related Turkic-speaking peoples primarily residing in Russia's Volga-Ural region, with historical populations in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Ingredients:
1 batch suzma
Dried herbs and spices to taste (optional)
Method:
Preparing suzma is a three-stage process. First you make qatiq, a yoghurt-like drink then you convert the qatiq into suzma a yoghurt-based spread. Finally your strain the suzma and prepare the qurt.
If you’ve purchased your suzma, it may be thick enough to begin rolling into qurt. However, if you made your own, you may need to let it drain in the cloth for another few days to reach the optimal consistency.
There is no exact timeline, but the suzma is ready to be rolled when you can stand a spoon in it. Mine took about two days to get there.
Once your suzma is nice and thick, add salt to taste and any additions, like ground red pepper or dried herbs. Roll it into balls, keeping in mind that smaller ones will dry quicker. (Mine were about the size of small to medium gumballs.)
Arrange your qurt balls on a wooden cutting board, cover them with a clean dish towel, and leave them in a warm, sunny place to dry for several days, depending on how hard you’d like them to be.
If warm and sunny is not in the cards where you live, you can use the following modern method: Set your oven on its lowest possible temperature (about 50°C) and place your qurt inside on a baking tray lined with parchment paper for an hour. Do not preheat the oven first.
Your qurt should now be a bit rubbery. Dry the balls with a hair dryer on full power for about 10 minutes. Set aside to dry further at room temperature. Repeat the oven and hair dryer steps three days in a row. For harder qurt, leave to dry for a few more days at room temperature.
Enjoy your qurt and go slowly. A little bit of the salty stuff goes a long way... Store in a breathable cloth bag in a dry place or in a paper bag in the refrigerator.
Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.