Dinesh Gale is a cattle farmer who makes chhurpi in Tipling, Nepal. It’s a hard cheese that comes from the milk of chauri—that’s a cross between a yak and a cow. Chhurpi smells smoky and tastes sweet, and you chew it like you would a piece of gum.
source/image: Great Big Story
It is also extremely tough and is considered to be the hardest cheese in the world. People have been making this cheese in remote parts of the Himalayas for centuries. It keeps for a long time—up to 20 years if you stash it in a special yak skin.
Chhurpi is prepared in a local dairy or at home from buttermilk.The buttermilk is boiled and the solid mass that is obtained is separated from the liquid and wrapped and hung in a thin cloth to drain out the water. The product is rather like the Italian ricotta, which also is made from whey.
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It is soft, white, and neutral in taste. However, it is often left to ferment a bit to acquire a tangy taste.To prepare the hard variety, the soft chhurpi is wrapped in a jute bag and pressed hard to get rid of the water. After it dries, it is cut into small cuboidal pieces and hung over fire to harden it further./wikipedia
