Chal

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for the town in Afghanistan see Chal, Afghanistan

Chal is a Turkic drink, a fermented camel's milk, which is a white sparkling beverage that has a sour flavour and is popular in Central Asia, particularly in Turkmenistan.[1] In the Near East and Israel the drink is known as shubat. In the summer chal is one of the staple foods of the Adai Kazakhs.[2] Because of specific preparation requirements and its being extremely perishable, chal presents a great challenge for importers to ship outside Turkmenistan or the region for foreign consumption.[3] One source notes that Turkmens like to get agaran (type of butter) from the surface of chal.[4]

Travelers have the following description of the cooling effect and preparation of the chal: "Where Turkmen cuisine positively shines is in its dairy foods, from both cows and camels. I tasted the famous chal, fermented camel's milk, and it proved wonderfully cooling in the intense heat. To make chal, the cream is skimmed off the milk, and the milk is thinned with water and left to ferment slightly. (That skimmed-off cream, when it too is fermented slightly, becomes agaran, a rich, thick and extremely nourishing treat.)"[5]

The positive effects of chal are noted in several modern scientific studies, which have found that unlike the fresh camel and cow milk, fermented drink chal and shubat are characterized by virusidal and virus inhibiting properties both in liquid and lyophilized form, which are not affected by the shelf life. Its preparation description is also given: "Chal and shubat: The "chal" is prepared by first souring it in a skin bag or ceramic jar, normally with a capacity of 30 kg. Previously soured milk is added to the fresh milk. It is well mixed and each day, for 3-4 days, fresh milk is added to the mixture. Eventually the end product must have 3 to 5 times the original volume of “chal” that was initially added. This is the best ratio for the "chal".[6]

It was found that camel milk does not sour at temperatures below 10°C (50°F) and this for up to 72 hours. At 30°C (86°F) the milk sours in approximately 8 hours, compared with cow's milk, which sours within 3 hours at a temperature of 30°C. The comparison between the composition of camel milk and camel chal is as follows:[7]

Camel milk “Chal”
acidity 18° 28°
fat 4.3% 4.3%
lactose 2.75% 1.32%
non-fat solids 8.2% 6.6%
ash 0.86% 0.75%
ethyl alcohol 1.1%
ascorbic acid 5.6 mg% 4.8 mg%

The chal contains Lactobacilli lactic; streptococci and yeast.[8] Chal was successfully prepared by using cultures of Lactobacillus casei, Streptococcus thermophilus and lactose-fermenting yeasts and incubating inoculated milk for 8 hours at 25°C (77°F) and subsequently for 16 hours at 20°C (68°F). Holder pasteurization did not affect the quality of the milk, but pasteurization at 85°C (185°F) for 5 minutes caused the milk to have a bad flavour. Chal made from pure cultures of Lactobacillus casei, Streptococcus thermophilus and species of Torula had markedly less not-fat solids and lactose than the milk from which it was made.[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Anatoly Khazanov, Nomads and the outside world, Second edition, University of Wisconsin Press, 1994, p. 49
  2. ^ Ishchenko et al, Osobennosti selskogo khoziaistva Adaevskogo uezda. Materialy komissii ekspeditsionnykh issledovanii. Issue 13, Leningrad, Izdatelstvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1928, p. 146.
  3. ^ Great Culinary Dictionary. "Chal" in Russian, retrieved April 11, 2007
  4. ^ I.Barkhanov. Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper, in Russian, August 9, 2001.
  5. ^ Goldstein, Darra, Professor of Russian at Williams College, Turkmenistan on a plate, Saudi Aramco World magazine, January/February 2006, pp. 10-19.
  6. ^ Prof Zafar Iqbal Chaudhary & Dr Shahan Azeem, Is camel milk good for human health? DAWN Sci-tech world, October 9, 2004.
  7. ^ Grigoryants, N.N. Composition of camel milk and chal (Ru). Vop. Pit. 13: 41–45, 1954.
  8. ^ Kieselev, N. Bacteriological examination of chal (Ru). Mol. Prom. 17: 31–34, 1956.
  9. ^ Kuliev, K. The utilisation of camels' milk. Mol. Promyslenn 20: 28, 1959, as cited in Dr. R. Yagil. Camels and Camel milk. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome 1982. ISBN 92-5-101169-9.

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