Chal
Template:About Template:Infobox prepared food
Chal, or shubat (Template:Lang-kk {{#switch: |IPA=IPA: |lang=Kazakh: |pron=pronounced |=|Kazakh pronunciation: }}Template:IPA{{#if:|Template:IPA audio link }}), is a Turkic (especially Turkmen and Kazakh) beverage of fermented camel milk, sparkling white with a sour flavor, popular in Central Asia — particularly in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Kazakhstan the drink is known as shubat, and is a staple summer food.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Due to preparation requirements and perishable nature, chal has proved difficult to export.<ref>Great Culinary Dictionary. Chal in Russian, retrieved April 11, 2007</ref> Agaran (fermented cream) is collected from the surface of chal.<ref>I.Barkhanov. Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper, in Russian, August 9, 2001.</ref>
Fermented chal is reputed to possess virucidal and virus inhibiting propertiesTemplate:Citation needed not found in fresh camel or cow milk, both in its liquid and lyophilized form — a characteristic which is (reputedly) unaffected by shelf life.
Chal is typically prepared by first souring camel milk in a skin bag or ceramic jar by adding previously soured milk. For 3–4 days, fresh milk is mixed in; the matured chal will consist of one third to one fifth previously soured milk.<ref>Prof Zafar Iqbal Chaudhary & Dr Shahan Azeem, Is camel milk good for human health? DAWN Sci-tech world, October 9, 2004 Template:Webarchive.</ref>
Camel milk will not sour for up to 72 hours at temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F). At 30 °C (86 °F) the milk sours in approximately 8 hours (compared to cow's milk, which sours within 3 hours).
A comparison of the composition of camel milk and camel chal:<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
| Camel milk | “Chal” | |
|---|---|---|
| acidity | 18°D | 28°D |
| 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% |
Dornic acidic degrees are used to describe acidity in milk products, with 1 Dornic degree (1°D) is equal to 0.1g of lactic acid per liter.<ref>[1]</ref> The chal contained Lactobacilli lactic; streptococci and yeast.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Chal may be cultured with lactobacillus casei, streptococcus thermophilus and lactose-fermenting yeasts incubating in inoculated milk for 8 hours at 25 °C (77 °F), and then subsequently for 16 hours at 20 °C (68 °F). Holder pasteurization does not affect the quality of the milk, but pasteurization at higher temperatures ( 85 °C/185 °F) for 5 minutes negatively impacts flavour. Chal made from pure cultures of lactobacillus casei, streptococcus thermophilus and species of torula has markedly less not-fat solids and lactose than the milk from which it is made.<ref>Template:Cite web
cited in Template:Cite book</ref>
