Ghee is a Indian clarified
butter without any solid milk particles
or water. Ghee is used in India and
throughout the South Asia in daily
cooking. A
good quality ghee adds a great
aroma, flavor and taste to the food.
Ghee can be great assets
for people who are on low fat diet
since even a lower quantity of ghee
can add lot of flavor to the food
than any other oil or fat products.
According to the ancient Ayurveda,
a moderate amount of ghee is the best
cooking oil.
Traditionally, ghee is made from from butter churned out of Indian yogurt (curd). It is boiled and constantly stirred until the all the water is evaporated. Then, further heated to get a pleasant flavor, slightly cooled and filtered through muslin to remove sediment.
Cow ghee is yellow in color, and buffalo ghee has off-white cream color. Ghee made from other animal milks, such as sheep milk, mare milk, are valued for their unique health benefits.
Aged ghee, Kumbhiighrta, aged between 10 to 100 years, and Mahaghrta, aged over 100 years, are believed to be a powerful tonics.
Ghee can be generally
found in ethnic section of any
big grocery store, any Indian/South
Asian store or online. If you can not find ghee
easily, we have given an easy way
to make ghee below. When buying Ghee,
be sure to buy Ghee from animal such
as cow. Do not buy an artificial ghee
made by hydrogenating vegetable oil.
- By B. Shrestha [2003, Updated July 2009]
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