Nepali Dairy Products Explained: Chhurpi, Ghee, Yak Cheese, Paneer

Dairy is one of the most important parts of Nepal's rural economy and daily diet. Nepal produces roughly 2.5 million metric tonnes of milk a year, split between buffalo milk, which supplies a slight majority, and cow milk. In the high hills and mountains, the yak (males) and its female counterpart the nak, along with the chauri (a cross between a yak and hill cattle), provide milk where ordinary cattle cannot survive. The dairy sub-sector contributes a substantial share of the country's agricultural gross domestic product (AGDP) and supports millions of smallholder households.

The formal dairy industry in Nepal is anchored by two public bodies. The Dairy Development Corporation (DDC), a fully state-owned enterprise established in 1969 (its predecessor commission dates to 1955), collects milk from farmers, processes it and markets finished products nationwide. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is the policy and standards body; it issued the Code of Practice for the Dairy Industry in 2004, which sets quality tests and standards for milk, ghee, butter, paneer, milk powder and other products.

Alongside DDC, hundreds of private dairies and roughly 1,200 milk cooperatives operate across the country, collecting tens of millions of litres a year from more than 200,000 producer households. This mix of state, cooperative and private processors turns raw milk into a wide range of products: fluid milk, dahi (curd), paneer, ghee, butter, ice cream, sweets, milk powder and the mountain cheeses and chhurpi for which Nepal is increasingly known abroad.

Chhurpi (also spelt churpi and known regionally as durkha) is a traditional Himalayan cheese and one of the hardest cheeses in the world. It is made by coagulating milk from yaks, chauris, cows or buffaloes and draining off most of the whey. There are two broad types: a soft, fresh chhurpi usually made from cow milk and eaten as a food, and a rock-hard, dried chhurpi, traditionally made from yak or chauri milk, that can be stored for years. The hard variety is eaten by slowly softening a piece in the mouth for a long time, historically a valued source of protein for herders and trekkers in the mountains.

Hard chhurpi is remarkably nutrient-dense. Laboratory analysis reported in the Journal of Ethnic Foods puts its protein content at around 63% and fat at about 7%, with the rest made up of carbohydrate and a low moisture content of roughly 10%, which is what allows it to keep for so long. This combination of high protein, low fat and a hard, chewable texture is exactly what turned chhurpi into an international export success.

From around 2003, Nepali producers began exporting hardened chhurpi as a long-lasting dog chew, marketed abroad as a natural, digestible Himalayan treat. The trade has since grown rapidly. Chhurpi dog chews are now shipped mainly to the United States and Canada, with additional markets in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines. Because the export product is aimed at pets, it is typically made leaner than the chhurpi eaten by people.

Traditional soft chhurpi is made much like a simple farmhouse cheese. Milk (or buttermilk left after churning butter) is heated and gently coagulated using a natural acid such as lime or lemon juice, whey from a previous batch, or rennet. As the milk curdles, the solid curd separates from the watery whey. The curd is then collected in a thin cloth, and the whey is pressed and drained out, leaving a soft, mildly sour cheese that is eaten fresh or used in pickles and curries.

Hard chhurpi, the export-grade product, begins the same way but is then dried and pressed intensively. The fresh curd is wrapped tightly in cloth, hung to drain, and pressed under weight to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. The pressed blocks are cut into pieces and then dried slowly, traditionally by smoking or air-drying near a hearth over days or weeks, until they become extremely hard and shelf-stable. A pinch of salt is often added. For the dog-chew export market, producers follow standardised, hygienic versions of this process to meet buyers' requirements.

Chhurpi is produced across Nepal's hill and mountain districts. Ilam in the east is a major production and export hub, and Rasuwa, Langtang and other high districts supply the yak and chauri milk used for the hardest grades. To support the growing trade, Nepal's Department of Food Technology and Quality Control has drafted formal national standards for chhurpi and notified them to the World Trade Organization (WTO), aiming to protect the product's reputation in export markets.

Nepal's modern cheese industry began in the early 1950s in the Langtang valley of Rasuwa District, where a Swiss dairy specialist, Werner Schulthess, set up the country's first commercial cheese factory to process nak (female yak) milk. The project, developed with technical support linked to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Swiss assistance, is often described as one of Nepal's first modern agro-industries. The cheese was initially sold to trekkers in Langtang or carried by porters down to Kathmandu's Asan market.

Production expanded over the following decades. A second factory opened in Thodung, Solukhumbu, later followed by others, and the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation eventually ran mountain cheese factories at sites such as Gosainkunda in Rasuwa and Jiri in Dolakha. Yak cheese gained a certain prestige after Nepali royalty presented it as a gift abroad, and it remains a sought-after speciality for tourists and urban consumers.

In recent years, however, high-mountain cheese production has come under pressure. The Kathmandu Post has reported that yak and chauri herding is in decline because of difficult living conditions, shrinking grazing areas, a lack of veterinary services and limited government support. Where the Jiri factory once produced on the order of 18,000 kilograms of cheese a year at its 1990s peak, output at Dolakha's remaining DDC factories has fallen dramatically, illustrating how the fate of mountain cheese is tied directly to the survival of Himalayan herding.

Ghee (ghiu in Nepali) is clarified butter and one of the most important fats in the Nepali kitchen, used in cooking, religious rituals and traditional medicine. It is made by churning dahi (curd) or cream into butter, then slowly simmering the butter so the water evaporates and the milk solids brown and settle out, leaving pure, fragrant, golden butterfat. Because clarifying removes water and most milk solids, ghee is shelf-stable for long periods without refrigeration, which is why it is prized in a country with variable access to cold storage.

Dahi, or set curd, is a daily food across Nepal, eaten plain, with beaten rice (chiura), or sweetened. The most famous regional dahi is Bhaktapur's juju dhau, literally the 'king of curds', a thick, creamy sweet curd traditionally set in earthenware pots that is a signature product of the Kathmandu Valley's Newar community. Buffalo milk, with its high fat content, is especially valued for making rich dahi and ghee.

In villages, the churning of dahi into butter and ghee is often done with a traditional wooden churner called a madani, an early-morning household task in many hill communities. The same butter-making step links directly to buttermilk, which is one of the traditional starting materials for chhurpi, showing how Nepal's dairy products form a connected chain rather than separate items.

Paneer is Nepal's most common fresh cheese, made by heating milk and curdling it with an acid such as lemon juice, vinegar or whey, then pressing the curd into a firm block. Unlike chhurpi, paneer is soft, mild and eaten fresh in curries and snacks. It is produced by DDC and by countless small and medium dairies, and NDDB standards specify quality parameters for paneer and chhena (the unpressed curd used in sweets).

Milk powder allows surplus milk to be preserved and transported, smoothing out the seasonal 'flush' when production peaks. Nepal has milk-powder plants operated by DDC and by private companies, though the country still imports a significant amount of powdered milk to meet demand. Other processed products from the dairy sector include butter, ice cream, condensed milk, cheese (both hard and mozzarella-style), yoghurt drinks and a range of milk-based sweets and confectionery.

The economics of all these products trace back to the farm-gate milk price. Because Nepal periodically revises the government-guided price paid to farmers and charged for standard packaged milk, the cost of ghee, paneer, dahi, cheese and chhurpi is closely tied to those changes. Understanding the dairy value chain, from a farmer's morning milking through cooperatives and processors to a block of exported chhurpi, helps explain both the cultural richness and the commercial importance of Nepali dairy.