How To Make Ghee

When we were small, not just young, but smaller like when I was seven and my sister was only two, my parents used to get fresh milk from the milk-man. The same guy Ravi would come every day early in the morning to delivery freshly squeezed out buffalo milk. Buffalo milk is more common in India than cow milk. Cow milk is more precious and used on special occasions or only for religious reasons. The buffalo milk that our milk-man Ravi delivered was full of fat. Mom would get loads of cream off the yogurt that she made fresh every single day. I don’t know how she found the energy with both my sister and me, but I would like to think that we weren’t very naughty or bothering (we totally were). She would make fresh ghee whenever there was enough cream. I would sometimes help her in churning the butter, but that was probably when I got older. She would do it all by herself, and in 1997, she didn’t have an electric whisk that could do it for her. We don’t get milk from Ravi anymore. We get those milk packets and the 2% one that hardly has any fat.

When I was moving to the US, both my mom and mother-in-law would buy some since the milk at home wouldn’t produce enough cream. At first, I loved it but carrying it all the way from India seemed unnecessary. Then a friend showed me how to make it at home. He was very sweet and told me how to do and even gave me a sample. The ghee was so delicious I just wanted to put it on everything and eat it up. So from then, I started making ghee on my own. I buy the huge pack of butter from Costco and make it as a huge batch. At first, I would make it in small batches, but since Arlo has arrived and started eating solids, I make in huge batches. I add a dollop of ghee on everything he eats instead of oil. I make his dosas, toast, grilled cheese, roti and sometimes even idli with ghee. He absolutely loves the taste. The smell of freshly made ghee is absolutely heavenly and the entire house is filled with it lingering for hours. I have had a few friends asking me how to make ghee at home, so I decided I should put it up. The moving process has drained us more than we had expected. Luckily, I made ghee right before we were moving, so I took pictures well before. The end pictures don’t look super appetizing, but the ghee is absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

Unsalted Butter – 4 pounds

Curry Leaves – a handful of leaves (optional)

How to Make

Step 1: Heat a deep bottomed pan on a low heat until it’s warm.

Step 2: Remove the butter from the wrapping and add it in the pan one at a time.

Step 3: Let the butter melt on a low heat. Once all the butter has melted it will take some time to start frothing. Add the curry leaves at this point.

Step 4: Once it starts frothing make sure to keep watching it every five minutes, so as to not burn the ghee.

Step 5: As the frothing reduces and starts turning a little brown, wait for the entire frothing to disappear. Do not increase the heat.

Step 6: Once the frothing disappears, turn off the stove and once it’s not hot, sieve the ghee into containers for storage.

Love,
Po