What’s all the Hype About Ghee?

25 Jul What’s all the Hype About Ghee?

Ghee, or clarified butter, has been in our diet in parathas and curries for centuries. Nowadays ghee is rapidly gaining word-wide attention as a superfood packed with nutrients. It makes sense to throw out the Canola Oil from your kitchen and replace it permanently with ghee. Here’s the overview of why:

1. Ghee has a higher smoke point than other, healthy substitutes for vegetable oil: coconut oil and olive oil. Olive oil in particular becomes carcinogenic above certain temperatures and is best left to salad dressings rather than sautéing. You can cook everything in ghee safely, as it doesn’t break down at high temperatures during cooking.
2. Ghee has an INDEFINITE shelf life! You can keep it in an airtight container for years (hopefully you use it up faster than that).
3. Ghee is packed with micro-nutrients particularly Vitamin A (healthy eyes), Vitamin E (healthy skin and strong immunity), Vitamin D (healthy bones, teeth and amped energy levels), Vitamin K (effective blood clotting in cases of cuts and wounds).
4. Ghee is perfect if you’re lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy, so you can substitute it for butter when cooking.

How to make ghee? Ghee can be on the expensive side no matter which part of the world you’re in. Luckily, it’s really easy to make at home. Ghee is basically unsalted butter without any milk solids, impurities and water. Check out how to make it below:

How to Make Ghee*

Source the best butter you can here, preferably organic. Experiment between cultured and uncultured butter. Also! I love to save the milk solids, they’re delicious! Particularly tossed with brown rice. Use immediately, or refrigerate.

1 pound / 16 ounces / 450 g of the best quality, unsalted butter you can source

To make ghee, gently melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. After melting, the butter will separate into three layers. This should only take a few minutes. Foam will appear on the top layer, the milk solids will migrate to the bottom of the pan, and clarified butter will float between the two. Let the butter come to a simmer and hold it here until the middle layer becomes fragrant, more golden than when you started, and clear – push the solids on top out of the way to have a peek. The milk solids at the bottom will begin to brown. At this point it is a matter of preference, you can let the solids lightly brown, or let things progress a bit further. When the ghee is finished, skim absolutely all of the top layer of foam into a bowl with a spoon or strainer, turn off the heat, and allow things to settle for a minute or so. Next, carefully pour the golden central layer through a strainer, into a clean glass jar, leaving the milk solids at the bottom of the pan. If you were able to get all the solids out, and use clean and dry utensils in the jar, ghee will keep at room temperature for weeks. It can be used as a cooking oil, finishing element, and is also a traditional body moisturizer and massage medium :). Enjoy!

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Prep time: 5 min – Cook time: 25 min

*http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/how-to-make-ghee-recipe.html