Darima was setup in 2016. The milk is sourced from local villagers and farmers who visit Darima’s collection centers in Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand. The milk is then brought into the factory and processed as required. From what I’ve heard, the owners are planning to expand from the currently 800 liters facility to an approximately 5,000 liters facility soon. Since Darima acquires milk at a much higher and fairer price than other vendors in Mukteshwar, this would mean a massive boon for the locals. And more cheese for all of us! We use Darima’s cheese at one of our luxury boutique hotels as well : Mary Budden Estate!
Considering that it was the first time I was visiting a cheese factory, I went a bit overboard with the number of photographs I made and now the number of photographs I’ve selected to publish on the blog. It’s a lot but how could I cut out any more? Short of going there yourself, which would be ideal ( or maybe not – please check with Darima prior to just landing up at the facotry! ), there’s no other way for me to show you everything and really bring it close to home. The cheese is beautiful so that should help with a bit of guilt. Happy scrolling!
We had reached out to Darima beforehand and had setup a date. We were told, in no uncertain terms, that healthy safety and hygiene were paramount and we would only be allowed entry to the facility if we agreed to wear face masks, hair nets and shoe covers. Which was a no-brainer for us of course – I wouldn’t want anyone contaminating MY cheese, so why would I do that someone else? Thanks to Suyasha for arranging the tour and for chatting with me on the phone. And thanks to my Bili Hu Bharat for making the introduction!
They have two temperature and humidity controlled walk-in freezers where the cheese is cultured. Stacks and rows of fabulous looking and smelling cheese wheels. I wanted to make solo portraits of so many of those cheese wheels! Beauties!
We were then lead to a tasting board where we tasted the Gouda, the Chilli Bomb and the Zarai. All excellent! The Zarai was something entirely different – a sharp and indescribable taste! I think we ate all the pieces off the tasting block. Darima also makes ghee and honey and we got a whiff off of one of the jars of ghee – again, most excellent.
Thank you for the tour Aman! Thank you for being kind and patient with us.
While driving to and from the Darima Cheese factory, there is one particular point where the slope is a bit steep. If you’re in an older car that’s loaded up, you might have to ask your passengers to disembark so that you can pull the car up to a slightly more suitable spot. Which is exactly what happened to us. And also because my Dad driving in the 4th gear for some reason ( HAHA Dad! ) Hope he doesn’t read this blog post too closely.
