History of Qurutقروت

 

Quroot is a dairy product made with dehydrated plain yogurt that is combined with salt and typically shaped into small balls. Natural plain yogurt is added to a cheesecloth or muslin, then the liquid is squeezed out, and the resulting curd is allowed to drain for a few days until it dries out completely and becomes thick.

The ancient form of kashk is a porridge of grains fermented with whey and dried in the sun. The long shelf-life and nutritional value of kashk made it a useful item for peasants during the winter months, as well as soldiers and travelers. Kashk is the origin of tarhana found in the moderns’ cuisines of Turkey and Greece, where it is called trachanas (τραχανάς).
Modern kashk is usually a dish of dried buttermilk that can be crumbled and turned into a paste with water. This coarse powder can be used to thicken soups and stews and improve their flavor, or as an ingredient in various meat, rice or vegetable dishes. Drying allows a longer shelf life for the product.
Kashk is also central to the staple Iranian eggplant dish known as kashk-e bademjan.
Ernest Ayscoghe Floyer English explorer encountered this form of kashk in Baluchistan way back in 12th Century
In Afghanistan, these salted balls are also common street food items and can be bought pre-made in many Afghan shops.
Qurut is a Central Asian cheese that is made in a geographic swath from Iran and Turkey straight across Central Asia to Tibet.
Qurut is meant for use when other cheese or dairy are not available, such as during food shortages, travelling, military operations, etc., or for use in winter, when animals aren’t producing much milk.
It can be made from cow or sheep milk. One method uses milk. The cream is first removed for using as cream or making butter, then the milk is made into yoghurt. An alternative method uses the cream, putting it in goat skins hanging at least 2 ½ metres (8 feet) off the ground to keep animals away.
When dried, the cheese gets very hard. It is not particularly interesting to eat out of hand, and tastes very sour, but the process does stop the dairy from going rancid during long storage.

Cooking Tips
To use qurut, you break it up and simmer it in water until it dissolves, then you can drink it, or add things to it to make a soup.
Substitutes
Yoghurt with some salt in it as a substitute for reconstituted qurut.
Other Names
AKA: Aruul, Kashk, Kurut, Yazdie

Kichiri Qurut (کیچیری قروت )

Kichiri Qurut is one of my favorite Pashtoon dish! Its usually a sticky kind of Medium Grain Rice with maash (mung beans) served with Qurut and meat stew

Ingredients
3 cups of Medium Grain Rice
2 cup whole mung bean (Mash)
2 medium onion
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock or 1 cube chicken bouillon
4 tablespoons tomato paste
salt/pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
Red Chili powder
Qurut
1 lb ground meat
Directions
Begin by washing the mung to make sure they become soft faster I usually boil them in water for half hours. If you boil them then drain them in a strainer and rinse them once more.
Chop up one of the onions finely and fry it in a medium or large pot with some oil. Add the minced garlic to the pot after the onions have fried a bit and stir. Add 1.5 - 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste to the onion and garlic and stir the contents together. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper, and cumin at this time. Pour about 3 cups of water in the pot and add the mung beans to the pot. Set the pots temperature to medium and place a lid on the pot. Allow the mung beans to cook for 10 minutes.
Wash the rice then add it to the pot with the mung beans. Pour water over the rice, so that it stands at least 2 (or 3) centimeters above the rice. Allow the rice to cook and the water to evaporate.

Note: the more water you use the softer (and stickier). When most of the water has evaporated you can place a towel or cloth over the lid of the pot and place it on top of the pot for it to cook an additional 30 minutes. Or you can also use pressure cooker it will be much easier
Presentation
Chop up the remaining onion and in a medium pot fry the onion in oil until it slightly turns golden. Add the ground meat to the pot and stir well. Add salt, pepper, ground red pepper, and turmeric to the meat. Once the meat has fried/cooked add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and stir the contents of the pot. Then add 1.5 to 2 cups of water to the pot and allow the meat to cook for at least 30
minutes on medium heat (cover the pot with the lid). Once most of the water is dried up the meat sauce should be ready.
Once you are ready to serve the dish you will fill your serving platter with kichiri, add the Qurut in the center and sprinkle the meat sauce around the dish. You can even sprinkle some dried mint on the dish for added flavor also add fried Garlic with a touch off oil on top
If you like you can even make stew meat or meatballs to serve with the Shola.