Homemade ghee is one of India’s most sacred foods, with a history that traces back 5,000 years. Ghee is the cooking fat most associated with Vedic cooking, a cooking tradition from the Vedas.
The Vedas are among the oldest Hindu spiritual texts. The large body of knowledge contained therein is understood to have come by way of revelations received by ancient sages after intense meditation.
Another way of understanding this is that Vedic cooking was passed down from the heavens.
As such, even today ghee is one of the most spiritual and healing foods in India.
The golden oil made from butter has subtle qualities that are particularly good for supporting digestion.
This is especially important, because India’s traditional science of life, known as Ayurveda, views digestion as the root of overall health.
Ghee is distilled from butter using extended, gentle heat. The cooking technique imparts the important element of fire (angi) into the ghee.
The fire is important because Ayurveda thinks of one’s digestion as a fire. So ghee strengthens digestive fire.
The Properties of Ghee
Ghee has some amazing properties that make it a delight to use in the modern kitchen.
It has a very high smoke point (very unlike butter), so it doesn’t burn when used for cooking. Flavor-wise, its buttery and nutty flavor complements and enhances the subtle and pleasing flavors of foods cooked in it.
See my post: 10 Healing Benefits of Ghee
Unlike butter, ghee can be kept in the cupboard for months at a time without spoiling, because all the moisture is removed in the process of making the ghee.
Ghee is a natural, unprocessed fat, with a consistency similar to coconut oil. Being semi-solid at room temperature, it melts into a liquid easily if the room temperature warms. In India, the ghee is usually liquid because it is so warm there.
Because the milk solids are removed in the process of making ghee, it contains little to no lactose or casein, so it is suitable for people who cannot normally digest dairy.
I cannot guarantee if you make this recipe it will be entirely free of milk proteins, but you can purchase ghee that is certified for very low quantities. Pure Indian Foods is the safest option I have found. The company says its ghee contains no more than 0.25% lactose and 2.5 ppm casein/whey.
See my post: How to Identify Quality Ghee, and Ghee Buying Tips
Externally, ghee is moisturizing and nourishing for the skin, and a balm for wounds and rashes. It is also a burning fuel for the countless prayer candles lit in Hindu temples every day.
A newcomer to Indian cuisine will quickly discover that ghee is a prominent ingredient in Indian sweets.
Many of these sweets are associated with rituals and temple culture. Many of these sweets are also exceptionally delicious, and I will share some of these ghee recipes in the future.
Processing Butter Into Ghee
Although many other recipes include much shorter cooking times, I find it takes about an hour of gentle simmering of a pound of butter to coax out all of its moisture and evenly caramelize the nuggets of milk solids that drop to the bottom of the pot as it cooks.
Mine is more of a spiritual approach. It concentrates on extracting the subtle essences from the butter in accordance with Vedic traditions, and on transferring the fire element to the ghee so it can encourage good digestion.
In India, my mother-in-law makes her own butter before making homemade ghee.
It begins when she collects the cream that rises to the top of her daily boiled milk. (Milk is delivered to the house daily, and it is always boiled before use.) After about a week, she has enough cream to make butter.
If you taste that cream, it has a cultured taste, but it is certainly not spoiled.
She churns the cream into butter using a wooden tool with thick ridges on the bottom to help make the butter, and a long stick handle that she spins between her palms. In just a few minutes, it turns into butter.
The remaining liquid is buttermilk. The buttermilk is churned into butter, and the fresh butter is then transferred to a cooking vessel and simmered into homemade ghee.
The best ghee is made in the way my mother-in-law makes it. The back-and-forth action of the hand churning helps to impart a balancing quality to the homemade ghee.
Homemade Ghee, The Spiritual Way
In the process of making ghee, one concentrates the butter, and extracts its essence, so I encourage you to start with the highest quality butter you can find.
I will assume that you will not follow my mother-in-law’s method, so look to purchase grass-fed and cultured butters, butter made from raw milk, or organic unsalted butters. These are all perfect.
If possible, use an enameled cast iron saucepan, or a thick stainless steel saucepan, to make the ghee.
This will help the heat to distribute more evenly. As the heat surrounds the ghee, it helps to bring out more of the butterfat’s subtle qualities.
The process of turning butter into ghee invites a calming sensory experience. Its scent while simmering elevates the mind, and imparts a warm and inviting feeling.
Consider approaching this cooking project with a clean appearance and a calm mind. After all, you may use this ghee for months to come, so why not make it special?
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Recipe for Homemade Ghee, the Spiritual Way
Ingredients
- 1 pound of unsalted butter
Equipment
- You will need an enameled cast iron saucepan, or a thick stainless steel saucepan; a wooden spoon, and a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.
- You will also need a couple of jars to store the ghee. This recipe will yield about 1 and 2/3 cups of ghee.
Instructions
- Place the butter into a heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium-low heat. Choose a saucepan that will accommodate the melted butter with at least 2 inches on the sides to spare.
- Allow the butter to come to a boil. The ghee will begin to foam, froth, and sizzle. The sound indicates that the water is evaporating from the butterfat. The surface will be very foamy.
- After a few minutes, reduce the heat to very low. Raise the pot using a flame tamer if necessary to minimize the intensity of the heat.
- Simmer undisturbed on very low—the butter should be almost motionless—for up to an hour, until the milk solids that settle on the bottom of the saucepan turn golden brown. Do not stir the bottom of the pot. There is no need to stir at all.
Butter’s transformation
- As it simmers, the butter will transform. The foamy surface will slowly transform into a thin, transparent crust. The butterfat below the surface will transform from cloudy to transparent as the milk solids fully settle out on the bottom of the saucepan. Once the milk solids settle, they will begin to brown.
- The heat level, and the length of time you cook the ghee, will determine the ghee’s flavor. Watch carefully near the end, and turn off the heat when you are satisfied with the color of the milk solids. The darker the milk solids become, the nuttier the ghee will taste. Many recipes I have read suggest much shorter cook times. However, my understanding is that the longer, gentler cooking time increases the ghee’s flavor and potency. See the notes for more on this. Let the ghee rest for 15 minutes before straining.
- Strain the ghee through a fine mesh strainer, or through at least four layers of cheesecloth, into a pourable container. Remove the cheesecloth and transfer to one or more clean glass storage jars. Cover the jars only after the ghee has fully cooled. Don’t forget to admire the gorgeous golden color of the ghee as it cools. It will transform from clear liquid, to an opaque, semisolid state.
- Retain the strained solids of the ghee separately. You can use a wooden spoon to scrape off the milk solids from the bottom of the cooking pot. See the notes section below for details on cooking with milk solids.
To serve
- You can use your ghee as a cooking oil just as you would any vegetable oil. It will impart a rich, nutty flavor to your dish, its intensity corresponding with the quantity used.
- For Western cooking, try it on potatoes, or for cooking eggs or sautéing vegetables. Toss vegetables in it prior to roasting in the oven.
- For Indian cooking, fresh ghee is amazing drizzled on hot basmati rice, or on flatbreads. A dollop is also great mixed into a hot dal as you serve it. The ghee marries and enhances the delicate flavors of the aromatic spices, and tempers down the pungency of the chiles.
Notes
MILK SOLIDS AND STORAGE
The milk solids you reserved should be used up within four days. Try adding them to cooked rice or vegetables, or as a sandwich spread. Freshly made ghee can be stored in a cool cupboard for at least three months, in the refrigerator for six months, and in the freezer for a year. You generally don’t have to worry about it going bad, even beyond these times, as long as you use a clean, dry spoon to take the ghee each time so that you do not introduce any contaminants into the jar.THE PERFECT SHADE OF BROWN
Yamuna Devi, writing in “The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking,” suggests noting the color and fragrance of your ghee. If the solids on the bottom of the pan are darker than golden brown, or if the fragrance is intense—like toasted sesame oil—the butter has cooked too long, or over too high a heat. If this is the case, Devi suggests discarding the solids. The ghee is still usable, but next time adjust the heat or cooking time. According to the Ayurvedic practitioners who make Ancient Organics ghee out of San Francisco, the perfect ghee exists between the two extremes. Too little cooking means there could still be moisture in the ghee, and it can spoil. Too much cooking means it will burn and taste overly nutty. The perfect ghee has an exquisite taste with subtle, healing qualities.GHEE VERSUS CLARIFIED BUTTER
Ghee is sometimes referred to as clarified butter, but it is not the same. Clarified butter is similar, in that its cooking process also removes the moisture from the butterfat, but clarified butter is ready as soon as the milk solids drop out, and before they start to brown. When making clarified butter, you also actively skim off the foam from the top of the pot as the butter simmers. This is not done when making ghee, as this foam transforms during the cooking process.Nutrition
I love the photographs in this post! I can’t wait to make my first batch of ghee 🙂