Homemade Ghee Recipe

Sharing is caring!

Once you learn how to make ghee at home, you will never go back to stores to buy ghee again. I can promise you that much and yes! Homemade ghee recipe is that easy!!!

WHY YOU WILL LOVE HOMEMADE GHEE RECIPE

Before we dwell about why you will love ghee, lets go over –

WHAT IS GHEE

Remove the milk solids from butter and you get ghee. In simpler words, ghee is clarified butter. Ghee is extremely nutritious and because of its high smoking point, you can actually cook at a high temperature. I come from India and ghee is used in almost all Indian cooking on a daily basis. Back home, its known as liquid gold and rightly so.

I remember my mom making ghee using the traditional method -boiling the milk, saving the cream (malai) for days, churning the cream (that’s butter) and then cooking the churned butter to make ghee. She would never discard the milk solids (the brown residue that gets stored at the bottom of the pot while the ghee is being made). She would use that in ghee or add a bit while stir frying the veggies. When ghee is being made, the whole house is filled with a nutty aroma that’s so hard to describe in words.

However, in this homemade ghee recipe, I will give you easy steps to make ghee at home. In total you will need about 30 minutes and some patience to make some ghee that you can use in various dishes.

The recipe is easy if you get the hang of it. I have burned the ghee a few times till I had to get my friend on a call and take the exact steps on making ghee. I tasted the ghee at her place (she made dosa for me topped with a generous dollop of homemade ghee on top) and I couldn’t believe that its homemade here. It had that taste of traditionally made ghee that you grew up with at home in India. And goes without saying – since then, I haven’t bought ghee.

SO, WHY YOU WILL LOVE HOMEMADE GHEE RECIPE?

• Easy to make
• Great for those following a specific dairy-free diet like paleo or Whole30.
• Less expensive than the store bought ghee
• As WebMD suggests, though ghee is rich in fat, it contains high concentrations of monounsaturated Omega-3s. These healthful fatty acids support a healthy heart and cardiovascular system. Studies show that using ghee as a part of a balanced diet can help reduce unhealthy cholesterol levels.
• Helps You Keep Warm From Within
• Ghee has incredible healing properties
• Ghee consists of fat soluble vitamins, which aid weight loss
• Helps with Common Cold symptoms. You have difficulty in breathing; your taste sense is hampered, and you have a recurring headache, pouring a few drops of warm pure ghee into the nostrils, first thing in the morning may provide quick relief as the ghee travels all the way down to the throat and soothes the infection. Make sure, the ghee is pure and warmed to lukewarm temperature.
• Good Source of Energy
• Source of Good Fat
• Good For Intestinal Health
• Good For Heart

SALTED OR UNSALTED BUTTER TO USE

UNSALTED BUTTER

I have used Kerry gold grass-fed Irish butter. This butter makes excellent rich, flavorful ghee.

STEP BY STEP PROCESS OF MAKING GHEE

MELT THE BUTTER

Add about a pound of unsalted butter to a small pot and cook on low heat. Once the butter is melted and it starts to simmer, you’ll notice a layer of foggy bubbling foam forms on the top (that’s the water evaporating) 

MILK SOLIDS STICK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POT

As the ghee continues to cook, that foam turns into clear bubbles and you should also start to see the milk solid sticking to the bottom of the pot.

SIMMER ON

keep simmering the butter until the color changes to a beautiful caramel color. At this point, your whole kitchen will be filled with a nutty aroma.

COOL AND STRAIN

After 25 minutes, your ghee should be done. Cool the ghee and then strain off to remove all caramelized milk solids. The filtered clear pure fat is known as ghee. The ghee will become opaque and deep yellow as it cools.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON MAKING GHEE

How long does it take for butter to turn into ghee?

Takes about 30 minutes end-to-end to make ghee. Essentially, you just leave unsalted butter on a medium low stove for 30 minutes until you see brown milk solids on the bottom of the pot.

How much ghee can you get from butter?

1 pound of butter will yield about 2 cups of ghee.

Why use unsalted butter in making ghee?

I have always used unsalted butter, though I think salted will work fine too. I think since you can’t be sure how much salt will remain after you cook off the solids, the ghee might be too salty.

TIPS & VARIATIONS

• Slice the butter into cubes and place in a non stick pot. It will melt faster if you cut it up a bit first.
• Using good quality butter makes the best tasting ghee. My go to brand of butter is Kerry Gold Unsalted butter.
• You can add a pinch of pink Himalayan Salt once your ghee is made.
• For the color, you can add a pinch of turmeric, as it is a good disinfectant and a healthy ingredient.

HOW TO STORE GHEE

Ghee doesn’t require refrigeration and you can store it in the pantry. But if you want yours to retain quality for as long as possible, put that jar into the fridge. It’ll last for a couple of months longer this way. Ghee can be refrigerated for up to 1 year.

HOW TO USE GHEE

• Try toasting your bread with ghee to make ghee toast
• Apply ghee while making dosa or crepes instead of oil or butter
• Use it for making stir fry, season (temper) your dal (lentils), cook your spicy chicken to make ghee roast chicken, or make ghee pongal.
• Bake cookies with ghee like ghee shortbread cookies (nankhatai)
• One of my childhood favorite is, adding a spoonful of ghee in 1/4 cup of piping hot basmati rice and enjoy.
• In Odisha, on special occasions Sweet Ghee Rice (Kanika) is prepared with ghee and sugar and some cardamom. That’s very delicious too.

Sharing is caring!