Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Kumis
Fermented mare's milk, tangy and lightly fizzy with a whisper of alcohol, the ancient, prized drink of the Kazakh steppe.
Kazakh · advanced · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 0 min
~210 cal · 11g protein · 18g carbs · 10g fat · 0g fiber · 17g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kumis is the legendary mare's milk of the Central Asian steppe, and to Kazakhs it is far more than a drink, it is heritage, medicine, and a taste of the nomadic past all at once. Mare's milk is churned and cultured for hours or days until it turns tangy, lightly fizzy, and mildly alcoholic, a natural probiotic tonic.
It is deeply tied to the rhythm of the steppe. Because mares give milk only in the warmer months, kumis is a spring and summer delicacy, bound up with the foaling season, and its making, repeatedly agitating the milk in a leather or wooden vessel, is an old and honoured skill.
Long valued as both refreshment and remedy, it was drunk for strength and health as much as for pleasure, and it remains a proud symbol of Kazakh identity and hospitality. Sour, effervescent, and unlike anything else, kumis is the taste of the open plains.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
8 cups mare's milk (or cow's milk as a substitute)
1/2 cup kumis starter (or live kefir)
1 clean churn or jar
Instructions
1
Warm the milk (traditionally mare's milk) to lukewarm and stir in the kumis starter (or live kefir) culture.
✎ Chef’s note
The milk must be only lukewarm, blood temperature, when the starter goes in. Too hot kills the culture; too cold and it ferments sluggishly.
2
Pour into a clean churn or jar and cover loosely so gases can escape.
3
Ferment at room temperature for 1 to 2 days, stirring or churning often to aerate, until tangy and lightly fizzy.
✎ Chef’s note
Frequent stirring or churning is what gives kumis its signature light fizz and slight alcohol, by keeping the culture active and aerated.
4
Chill and serve cold in bowls, stirring before pouring.
Kazakh steppe tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Almaty. The city is named for its fruit. The wild forests in the Tian Shan foothills around Almaty grow Malus sieversii, identified by genome studies as the primary ancestor of every cultivated apple in the world, and the name is usually explained from alma, the Kazakh word for apple.
🗺️
Kazakhstan. Kazakh food reflects a nomadic, horse-and-sheep-herding past, centered on beshbarmak, boiled meat over wide noodles eaten by hand. Fermented mare's milk (kumis), horse sausage, and bread anchor a hospitable steppe table.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Kazakhstan
Beshbarmak"Five fingers": boiled meat over wide noodle sheets with onion gravy, Kazakhstan’s dish of honor, eaten by hand.
BaursakFluffy yeasted fried dough puffs served warm with butter, jam, or honey and tea.
KuyrdakA hearty fry-up of meat, potato, and onion, the celebratory dish traditionally made when an animal is freshly butchered.
Browse all Kazakhstan recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Kazakhstan meal
BeshbarmakDinner
ZhentDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kumis?
Fermented mare's milk, tangy and lightly fizzy with a whisper of alcohol, the ancient, prized drink of the Kazakh steppe.
Where does Kumis come from?
Kumis is a Kazakh dish from Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Can Kumis be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kumis recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kumis safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kumis take to make?
About 20 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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