Ghee is a cooking oil that is healthy yet tastes satisfyingly rich. All that's required is patience.
Ghee is made by slowly heating butter. The milk solids and lactose coagulate and separate, what is left is a clear golden oil. This makes it suitable for those unable to eat cheese or milk due to lactose intolerance. As with all good things, enjoy in moderation.
You will need:
2 pounds unsalted organic butter (if you can get raw that is even better)
1 clean quart jar
a saucepan
a metal spoon
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, when it has melted completely you can raise the temperature to medium. Part of the ease of making this, is no stirring! You don’t want to disturb the coagulation process, remember you want this to separate. The butter will begin to gurgle, as the water content boils off it may spit a little too. (So wear an apron.) As soon as it has begun to boil turn the heat back down to low. You want about fifteen minutes of cooking per pound. So this will take about half an hour to forty minutes.
A whitish film, or foamy cream will float to the top; you can scoop this off and let cool before throwing out if you like. But let it keep cooking until the white cream at the bottom solidifies. This is the milk solids and lactose, all that stuff that would clog up your arteries! You will probably end up with nearly a cup of this junk.
The ghee is done when all the moisture has cooked out, you will be able to see down through the golden liquid, that the milk solids at the bottom have turned a light golden brown. The ghee will smell very light and nutty, but be careful you do not burn it. This will affect the flavour and rid it of its healing properties.
Remove the pan from heat and let cool, then filter or strain the oil, pouring into a clean quart jar. Drain the oil, but leave the impurities behind to throw out. There is no need to refrigerate ghee as it has a long shelf life, up to a year. According to the Cory Holly Institute for sports nutrition, health and fitness; modern science has proved that Ghee has CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), phenolic antioxidants, and best of all butyric acid, which has antiviral and anticancer properties.
There has been concern over satured fats in the use of ghee, but this is due to confusion between pure ghee (made from animal fats) and vegetable ghee. Vegetable based ghee is more commonly used in Indian foods and restaurants as it is cheaper. When vegetable fats are heated to high temperatures, peroxides and other free radicals are created. These cheaper oils are usually hydrogenated and contain a high amount of trans fats.
Ayurvedic wisdom says that ghee helps balance excess stomach acid and helps repair the stomached lining. It imparts the benefits of the best essential fatty acids, except for omega 3's. Oils are necessary to promote healthy brain function and Ghee has a very high burning point which is a problem with vegetable oils. Ghee has so much flavour you can use about half the amount of other cooking oils. It does not have oxidized cholesterol or transfatty acids, nor is it hydrogenated.
Ghee is also said to bond with herbs and nutrients, which can then easily enter the lipid-based cell walls of the body. It is said to carry the active components into the cells where the body can benefit the most. This one of the reasons it is so highly prized in Ayurvedic medicine.
