Making Ghee and a Note on Healthy Cooking Fats

Ah yes, ghee, that wonderful, fragrant fat. Even a teaspoonful packs a huge flavour. Ghee is very important in Ayurvedic medicine. It is used as a carrier for medicines, as a nutritive tonic, and even to dissolve toxins in the body. It also builds the digestive fire, but without aggravating pitta. It is a great food for building ojas, the life energy of the body, and is said to promote longevity. And of course it tastes wonderful in all manner of dishes, any of the ones in Mango Soup in fact. But you can do more than just eat it - I like to use it as a night cream!

That's the Ayurvedic perspective, but let's not forget the Western perspective. Unfortunately, a lot of people these days are a little afraid of butter, or even of dairy in general. You'll be pleased to hear that ghee is actually perfectly healthy for you, and is even more desirable than many other cooking oils. For instance, it is unhealthy to use many polyunsaturated oils for cooking because they are easily damaged by the heat and this creates harmful free radicals. However, ghee contains a large amount of saturated fats, which are more stable, and thus it is not so easily damaged and also has a high smoking point.

Vegans will also be keen to hear that coconut oil is also rich in saturated fats, and thus is suitable for cooking. Other good oils for cooking are olive oil and sesame oil. Paul Pitchford notes that these both have "a long history of safe, healthful use". Olive oil is a largely monounsaturated fat, which is less susceptible to damage than polyunsaturated fat, and also has many (highly publiscised) health benefits. Sesame oil contains quite a lot of poly-unsaturated fat, but also contains that antioxidant sesamol, which prevents rancidity. Whenever you can, buy unrefined, organic oils.

Ghee is extremely easy to make, and the process is guaranteed to fill your house with a wonderful toffee-ish smell. Just make sure you start with unsalted butter. I use organic.


Here's the butter in a saucepan, melting gently. When it's all melted and has come to a foaming simmer, give it a quick stir and move the pan on to the lowest heat you can manage. You need a little patience with ghee, or it will burn.

Don't stir it now. Just let it bubble away gently, making wonderful glooping noises. A layer of white foam will form on the top, and gradually go golden. You'll know the ghee is ready when the surface becomes nearly motionless and the pan falls silent. For 500g butter I find it takes around an hour, or a little more. Take it off the heat.


You can see that the foam on the surface has gone slightly golden brown. That's alright, but if you've cooked the ghee for too long or on too high a heat, you might burn your ghee. So keep it on the lowest heat you can, and don't leave it unattended for too long.


All that remains now is to strain the ghee through some muslin or a clean cloth into a jar (or several, as required). A heat up my jars in the oven first so that they don't crack when the hot ghee goes in. As you pour the ghee, you'll see that some of the milk solids have sunk to the bottom.

If you've cooked your ghee slowly and gently, the milk solids that you have strained off will be a delicious snack, mixed with rice, or mixed with sugar and eaten with chapatis. Eat them within a few days, as they will not last long. However, if the solids are really dark and taste burnt, you've ruined them. In this case, you better smell and taste your ghee too - if you've burnt the solids too much the ghee will also taste burnt and you'll have to start again.


I made enough ghee for one small jar and one larger jar this time. If it's your fast time making ghee, try it in simple dishes to explore the delicious flavour. Favourites of mine include kanji (also known as congee, rice soup/porridge), khichari, plain chapattis, pilau, plain moong or toovar dal, or even on plain vegetables with a little lemon juice.


As you can see from this picture, ghee solidifies when it is cold. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, it will melt once heated. On a little note about storage, I have never stored ghee in the fridge, but then again I only make smallish quantities and get through it reasonably quick. If you live in a hot climate, you may want to for safety.

If you like the look of this recipe, please buy my book, Mango Soup, which contains the full version of this recipe and many more: http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=49169