Chalap

Chalap is a cold, savoury Central Asian drink of soured, fermented milk let down with cold water and salted, then — in its classic Kyrgyz form — lightly carbonated so it turns cloudy, tangy and gently fizzing. A close relative of ayran and doogh, it is built not on plain set yogurt but on a thicker fermented base such as suzmo (jamak), a strained sour-milk curd, which gives it a sharper, more distinctly cultured tang. It is milky and lactic-sour rather than sweet, savoury from the salt, and traditionally served ice-cold as a thirst-quencher in the summer heat of the steppe and mountains.