Halloumi, feta, pecorini and cheddar are now being made in rural Gujarat

What happens when a fromager and a pastoral community body join hands? They train the youth to make cheese

At ‘A Taste of Pastoral India: Crafting Artisanal Cheese,’ a recently concluded conference hosted by Sahjeevan (Centre for Pastoralism) and Chennai-based cheese brand Käse Cheese, all eyes were on 24-year-olds Kolatora Arpan Hajabhai and Ghanghan Bhimsingh.

Dressed in white dhotis and bandis that flaunted brightly coloured, hand-stitched designs featuring Lord Krishna and peacocks, and finished with abla work (mirror-work), the duo is the first of many generations of the Maldhari (pastoral) community of Surendranagar district in Gujarat, attempting to put pastoral milk to good use through cheese-making.

A pastoral community is usually semi-nomadic, raising livestock and moving with their livestock to pastures from region to region. For generations, the Maldhars of Surendranagar have reared goats, camels and cows across West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. While the family and community traditions continue along shorter routes with a more compact size of herds, Hajabhai and Bhimsingh have been busy experimenting with goat and camel milk to make products that will have a demand in the market–milk powder, chocolates and flavoured milk. Today, the grazing regions are mainly in the Saurashtra region, including Surendranagar and Jamnagar. Camel herding is restricted to Kutch.

“All these products have a certain shelf life, so we are looking to do something where the shelf life of the products can be prolonged further,” says Hajabhai. The short lifespan of raw milk means that it doesn’t have a huge demand in the market. The duo has also tried to make milk powder for people who don’t have access to milk.

“During the time of our grandfathers and great-grandfather, our community owned 300 to 350 camels and sheep that grazed. Over the years, many government rules and regulations have reduced the grazing areas. A growth in agricultural practices has also led to clearing of wild grass. In our present generation, the herds have shrunk; the herding happens in nearby areas. Today, we have around 10 cows and 50-60 goats. While we sell our cow milk to the milk collective, there aren’t many takers for raw goat milk. This is because its shelf life is just four hours and it has a peculiar smell too,” explains Hajabhai, adding that animal herding is not a popular option among the youth today, as a number of them are educated and want to pursue jobs in cities.

Learning new skills

Four months ago, the two friends began to learn cheese-making with Namrata Sundaresan, one of the founders of Käse Cheese.Every day, at 7.30 am, the duo collects milk with the aid of a helper. Located in the town of Sayla in Surendranagar, the unit has a capacity of collecting 400 litres of milk a day, but currently they manage to just cross 100 litres a day. The milk reaches their unit in an hour’s time, after which they start making cheese until the afternoon. “We are making artisanal cheese that we supply to Käse. We have both hard and soft cheeses. Some of it is ready to be supplied and the rest is put away to age,” says Hajabhai. The duo believes that in the next one year, they will be making a profit. Every day, they make eight-ten kilograms of goat’s cheese, out of which 50 per cent is aged for three to six months.

Sundaresan partnered with Sahjeevan to use cheese-making as a tool to try and create an impact in the community. “We are the training partners. I worked with Hajabhai and Bhimsingh to set up the cheese-making unit, put quality control practices in place and over the course of six months, have trained them to be able to make the cheese on their own. At the end of the day, we buy back the ready cheese products,” explains Sundaresan.

Tasting the cheese

A crowded cheese tray is a good problem to have. We got to taste 10 varieties of cheese, including queso fresco, feta, halloumi, chevre, heddar, tomme, crottin, and pecorino (which was spiked with fennel). All of these were made using goat, sheep and camel milk, and served with accompaniments such as khakhra, bhakarwadi, choonda, honey, kasundi mustard and tomato chutney. Interestingly, the halloumi was made using camel milk from Bajju, Rajasthan.

Mumbai-based cheese expert Mansi Jasani, who runs The Cheese Collective, says, “India does not have a history of cheese-making despite being a producer of milk, and this is primarily because of the country’s climatic conditions. It is difficult to make cheese in a humid, hot and dry climate. This collaboration is the first step in showcasing how the pastoral communities in the country can be trained to create a sustainable product. Funding, operations and standardising quality are some of the challenges that have to be overcome.”

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