Homemade ghee is one of India’s most sacred foods, with a tradition that traces back 5,000 years. Ghee made the spiritual way enhances its healing qualities.
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 ⅔ 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 bubbling very minimally —for up to an hour (or longer), 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. Maybe turn the pot if you notice certain areas getting darker than others. 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 5 minutes before straining.
Strain the ghee through fine cheesecloth, a fine mesh strainer, or through 4 layers of regular cheesecloth, into a pourable container. Remove the cheesecloth and transfer the strained ghee into 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 or discard them. 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.
Notes
TO SERVE
Use your ghee as a cooking oil just as you would any vegetable oil. It will impart a mild buttery flavor to your dish.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. A dollop is also great mixed into any Indian dal or any soup. Adding a bit of ghee marries and enhances the delicate flavors of the aromatic spices, and tempers down the pungency of any hot chilis in the dish.
GHEE STORAGE
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 ghee 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.
MILK SOLIDS
Any milk solids you reserve should be used up within four days. Try adding them to cooked rice or vegetables, or as a sandwich spread.
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.