Homemade Kashk Recipe (aka Jameed, Kurut)

What is Kashk?

Kashk in English, to put it in the simplest terms, is fermented yoghurt. It’s creamy, tangy and is rich in umami notes, a little like goat’s cheese. It is a much loved ingredient not just in Iran, but also the surrounding region, across the Middle East, Central Asia and The Balkans.

You will also find kashk sold as dried fermented discs, in many of these places. These discs are ground and mixed with water before being used.

These are some of the names that kashk is also known as:

• jameed
• kurut
• kishk
• chortan
• tarhana

The production methods and presentations may differ but all the dairy based ones can be used interchangeably in recipes that call for any one of them.

What is Kashk made of?

Kashk is what it’s called in Iran, and in ancient times, many food historians believed it was made using fermented grains. Somewhere along the lines, milk was added to the process and until today, this fermented product can be made with either or a combination of the two.

Fast forward a few hundred years, and the Iranian kashk was made using doogh, a by-product of making yoghurt butter. If you like, you can read more about that, and get the recipe for for doogh here.

Homemade Jameed

Homemade kashk or jameed is so much better than anything you can buy in a carton. It has a fresher flavour and is much closer to a traditionally made version.

You can easily make kashk at home with yoghurt, water and a little salt. This is what we’ll be doing:

1. Leave the yoghurt out at room temperature for 2 days in a glass container, to allow it to sour.
2. Simmer the yoghurt and water for about 2 hours. It will split into curds and whey at this point. The whey is then cooked off, leaving behind the curds.
3. Drain the curds to get rid of excess moisture.
4. At this point, you can mix it with water and salt (in a blender) and use as required, or store as is.

How long does Homemade Jameed Last?

Homemade jameed or kashk will keep in the fridge for a week, whether stored in its reduced form or after blending with water and salt.

How much water you use to blend homemade jameed depends on your recipe. Some may call for a runny kashk, while others will require a thick dollop, especially when used as a garnish.

You can also freeze it. Again, you can do this before or after blending it with water. My preferred way is to freeze it in its grain form, in ice cube trays, as you can see in the image. That way, I can use as much or as little as I need, without any leftover waste.

How to use Kashk?

No matter what we call it, we use kashk in very similar ways:

• as a garnish or topping
• to thicken soups and stews
• in marinades
• as a flavour enhancer

In some ways, kashk is used as you would use soured cream or crème fraîche in savoury recipes.

Kashk Substitute

If you desperately need to have some kashk or jameed and don’t have the time to make it, here’s a good substitute.

You can use the same amount of crème fraîche or soured cream as the recipe calls for but grate in a tiny amount of goats cheese or parmesan to up the umami factor. Say about 1-2 tablespoons of cheese for every measuring cup of kashk (metric – a cup that takes 250ml liquid).

Look out for recipes over the coming weeks that use kashk or jameed as it’s also called.

And now, let’s get our aprons on.

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