Bhaktapur Specialty · King Curd

Juju Dhau

Photo: SHnehaa / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Legend says the name was earned in a royal yogurt cook-off, when Malla-era judges tasted entries from three valley cities and crowned Bhaktapur's batch the undisputed 'king.'

Juju Dhau — literally 'king of curd' — is a rich, faintly caramelized yogurt made from buffalo milk and set in wide clay pots, which season the yogurt and draw off extra moisture as it firms up. It's sold by the potful from sweet shops around Bhaktapur's Durbar Square and carried out to nearby valley towns.

Why it's made this way: Tradition holds that a Malla-era yogurt competition between makers in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur ended with royal judges favoring Bhaktapur's entry, cementing the city's curd as the valley's finest and giving it its royal title.