Hard, dry, salty balls made by dehydrating fermented sour milk until rock-hard. The quintessential nomadic survival food, lightweight, non-perishable calcium and protein carried on horseback journeys.
Qurt is the quintessential nomadic survival food of the Kazakh and Central Asian steppe. Hard, dry, salty balls are made by dehydrating fermented sour milk (qatiq or ayran) until rock-hard, producing a lightweight, non-perishable source of calcium and protein carried on horseback journeys. It is one of the most ancient dairy-preservation techniques of the nomadic world, predating refrigeration by millennia, and it remains a popular salty snack and soup additive across Kazakhstan.
Hard, dry, intensely salty and tangy, with a chalky, crumbly texture that softens slowly in the mouth, the concentrated sour-milk flavour intense. Eaten dry as a snack or dissolved in soup, it is salty, primal and the nomadic dairy concentrate.
Fermented sour milk (qatiq) is salted and left to separate, then the solids are strained, shaped into small balls or fingers, and sun-dried or air-dried for days until rock-hard. The salt and the dehydration preserve the dairy indefinitely without refrigeration. The balls can be eaten dry (sucked slowly) or dissolved in hot water or soup to reconstitute into a tangy dairy broth.
Variations
A larger ball version is for soup. Some roll the balls in dried herbs.
On the Palate
Where Qurt sits in the Kazakh flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 20How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 15 min
Take 2 litres fermented sour milk (qatiq or ayran, or yogurt thinned with buttermilk); stir in 2 tbsp salt.
- 212 min
Bring gently to a simmer; the curds will separate from the whey.
Watch outBring the salted sour milk just to a simmer until the curds separate from the whey — boil it hard and the curds toughen into rubber.
- 38 min
Strain through cheesecloth; let drain 2 hours until a thick paste forms.
- 46 min
Roll the paste into small balls or fingers.
- 56 min
Sun-dry or air-dry in a warm, dry place 5-10 days, turning daily, until rock-hard.
Watch outDry the balls until rock-hard right through, turning daily — a soft center left inside will spoil and won't keep.
- 64 min
Store in a cloth bag; eat as a snack or dissolve in soups.
