Balram Sampla
Geopolitics
Geopolitics
(Asian independent) Cheesemaking in India began in the cold mountains. Herding communities in Ladakh, Sikkim and nearby Himalayan regions turned yak and cow milk into chhurpi, a cheese that can be soft or dried rock-hard. It kept for months and could be carried on long journeys. For centuries it was food for survival, with no connection to fine dining.
Much of the rest of India took a different path. Milk became curd, ghee and sweets. The warm climate made ageing cheese difficult, and many people avoided animal rennet. Cooks instead curdled milk with acid to make paneer and chhena. Historians still debate how these arrived, and some point to Persian or Portuguese influence. Portuguese settlers did bring European-style cheese to Bengal and Goa, and the smoked Bandel cheese of Bengal is the best-known survivor.
In the 1930s, the Polson dairy in Gujarat began making processed cheese, and Amul later made it a household product. For decades, “cheese” in India meant a yellow block or slice. Real craft cheese stayed rare.
That has changed over the last fifteen to twenty years. Chefs, returning travellers and small dairy startups began making Brie, Gruyère and Tomme styles with Indian milk and local conditions. Their cheeses started winning medals abroad.
At the 2026 Mundial do Queijo do Brasil, four Indian products won medals, including one Super Gold, two Golds and one Silver. The winners included a Himalayan yak churpi and a whey cheese, which shows that India’s own traditions can compete as well as its European-style imitations.
That journey reached a diplomatic stage in October 2026. During the Swiss President’s state visit, Prime Minister Modi gave him three award-winning cheeses: Gulmarg, Konark and Yeoor. Yeoor is an aged cheese inspired by Swiss Gruyère, so the gift offered an Indian answer to a Swiss classic, handed to the Swiss head of state.
The leap is real, but it is still early. India’s cheesemakers are few, their costs are high, and their production is small. But a craft that began as mountain survival food is now being presented to the leader of one of the world’s great cheese nations.
Reference
1.https://organiser.org/2026/10/06/384616/bharat/from-gulmarg-to-yeoor-pm-modi-gifts-award-winning-indian-cheeses-to-swiss-president/
2.https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/pm-congratulates-indian-cheesemakers-on-their-notable-achievement-at-the-mundial-do-queijo-do-brasil-2026/
3.https://organiser.org/2026/10/06/384616/bharat/from-gulmarg-to-yeoor-pm-modi-gifts-award-winning-indian-cheeses-to-swiss-president/amp/
