Bhaktapur's Juju Dhau

There may not be anyone who does not know about Bhaktapur’s Juju Dhau.  After tasting this special yogurt, I can bet that you were completely smitten by it.  Juju dhau literally means ‘King of Yogurt’. In Bhaktapur, you can find numerous yogurt shops one after another. So wherever you go around Bhaktapur do not forget to taste this delicious yogurt.

Many people have tasted it but may not know how it is made and also have desire to know. Laxmi Keshari Dumaru, one of the dahi makers of Bhaktapur who run this business more than 15 years support in this dahi making journey. According to her, the vital element for preparing dahi is milk and Juju dhau is made up of buffalo’s milk not cow’s milk. It is because buffalo’s milk adds more taste and texture to yogurt.  The process begins with boiling of the milk with the sugar until it gets thick. Boiling process takes half an hour to one hour.Then, the milk is mixed with culture which is known as dahi ko bue in Nepali and poured into clay pot called maato ko kataaro. After that, it is placed in a warm area; on the bed of paddy husks which is known as bhus. If it is not placed above husk it won’t be still and impeccable. So in order to make it tasty and perfect it husks should be used. Then it is covered with another kataaro on the top and wrapped in several thick cotton blankets to maintain a warm temperature while the yogurts set.  Then it is left for 3 to 4 hours in summer and 5 to 6 hours in winter to be set.  After that you will get a perfect Juju dhau and it is ready to go to the market.

Juju dhau is prepared in clay pots. As Shyam Krishna Dumaru says, this is mainly because those clay pots have pores from which the liquids of the yogurt slowly evaporate and make it delicious, creamy and yummy.

Rajesh Shrestha who runs Khwopa Juju Dhau says happily, ‘It’s been 9 or 10 years I have been running this business but till now response is positive from the customer, they say it is good and tasty.  He added that the business just doubled in summer than in winter because of hot temperature. So the business is going well overall.

Now and then the price of Juju dhau has been drastically different. According to Laxmi Keshari Dumaru, the clay pot used to cost only Rs. 2.5 but now it costs Rs. 10. Similarly milk also used to cost RS. 25-30 per liter now it is Rs.52. That is why the curd used to cost Rs.60 but due to price hike in every material, it increased up to Rs.130.

Most of the shopkeepers have the same views when they were asked about profit and loss. They all faces the same problem while making the yogurt like when sometime the problem such as premature curdles in milk results the whole product into a waste. So according to them this determines their profit and loss.

Juju dhau has its importance in many ceremonies such as weddings, feasts, and people also use it to give sogan.  It is said that if you keep dahi at the two sides of the door before starting a new journey, it will brings good luck to your life. Therefore dahi add joys and colors to any celebration. So why to wait grab it!