Aaruul Recipe
Aaruul is a traditional Mongolian snack made from boiled yogurt. Mongolians collect yogurt in a churn or container and cook it into curd on a low fire, stirring continuously. Next, filter the curd in a cotton bag and press it under a stone or a heavy item to remove the whey. This process also helps shape the curd suitable to cut into pieces and spread on a wooden board in the sun to dry. The Aaruul drying process continues for several days, displaying in the sun during the daylight and putting indoor evening through morning. When the curd is hard enough, it is called “Aaruul” and collected in a cotton bag to keep long and consume. When the nomads have a lot of milk, they have to make Aaruul once or twice a week, which requires emptying the drying boards as soon as the Aaruul gets drier, which can bear its weight in the thread. That is why you see many Aaruuls hanged from the nomads’ ger roofs when you visit them.
Aaruul drying process usually takes 7 to 14 days, depending on the sun and air humidity. Drier the air, the drying process continues short
Why do Mongolians eat a lot of Aaruul?
Mongolian nomads are self-sufficient in their animals. Dairy products constitute much of the meal consumption. Nomadic Mongolians need to keep their meals and dairy products without refrigerators. Aaruul is one of the Mongolian foods or snacks kept without a fridge around a year. Aaruul’s long-lasting quality and easiness bearing the Aaruul just in a pocket also meets the nomad’s demand to move long distances or suitable for a man traveling on horseback for several days in search of the animals, or appropriate for children to go to school from long distance. In short, Aaruul is the most practical food for nomads and a source of nutrition.
Aaruul Nutrition
Aaruul is an excellent source of calcium, protein, C, D, and E vitamins. It is a great probiotic snack people can consume at any time of the day.
Besides the nutritional facts, Aaruul’s hard quality and calcium support strong teeth.
How does Aaruul taste?
Aaruul taste varies from region to region or depending on the ingredients.
Aaruul’s original taste is sour because of the yogurt collected for several days. The sourest and least oily Aaruul is made from curd after making the yogurt vodka.
Some Aaruul tastes sweet when adding sugar to the curd. Nomad women like to make colorful Aaruul, flavoring the curd with wild blueberry and sea buckthorn juice.
Aaruuls made from fresh yogurt, milk, or buttery yogurt taste naturally sweet and oily.
The oiliest Aaruul is made from camel milk, and the following oiliest Aaruul is made from yak milk.
Cow yogurt, sheep yogurt, and goat yogurt Aaruuls are less oily.
Besides the taste, you may feel the Aaruul probiotic bacteria smell is not friendly.
