Ghee – The Stuff Indian Moms Pamper You With!
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Ghee (how long does ghee last?) was a staple in my mum’s pantry when we were growing up. She would slather a good bit, with the back of her spoon onto our breakfast parathas. The fragrance of the ghee would waft from my lunch box and remind us of the chicken paratha roll waiting for me in my school bag.
Ghee has been around for centuries. Initially used in Ayurvedic medicine, and eventually as an ingredient in Indian cooking, ghee has always enjoyed a special status. It is offered as a gift to religious deities in the Hindu culture and incorporated in the preparation of traditional sweets during all festive occasions regardless of your faith. Indian mums are wildly famous for cooking up ghee-rich delicacies for their children who visit home during the holidays (by children, here I mean fully grown adults like myself!) and practically force feeding us, all in the name of love!
What is Ghee?
Ghee is basically the clarified part of butter (how long does butter last?) that has been stripped off its milk solids and water content. This is done by heating the butter till the fats separate, and it’s a very simple and straight forward process. But we will get to that later. First, I want to share why I prefer ghee over butter or any other fat. Except of course extra virgin olive oil. I mean nothing can beat EVOO.
Ghee and Butter - Which is Better?
The first major difference between ghee and butter is the smoke point. Ghee takes it away with this one, as it easily withstands heat up to 485 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter is known to burn quickly add about 350 degrees Fahrenheit so that's a remarkable range.
This is possible because of the absence of milk solids in the ghee, which otherwise burn pretty fast in butter. For this reason, ghee works very well when you are flash frying that steak!
The other wonderful thing about ghee is that it produces less acrylamide upon burning as compared to other oils. Acrylamide is chemical toxin that is pretty used when starch rich foods are cooked at high temperatures. The toxin is known to promote the risk of cancer in lab animals.
Coming to the best part….ghee is lactose free as the milk is literally separated from fat. This means those of you with lactose sensitivities or mild allergies will definitely find a friend in ghee.
Nutritional Values of Butter and Ghee
When compared side by side, the two have very minute differences, nutritionally speaking. A tablespoon of ghee and a tablespoon of butter will offer almost the same nutritional values with ghee tending to be slightly higher in calories whether slightly higher concentration of fat.
The types of fats you consume are also an important marker of a healthy diet. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are what you should focus on. These offer protection against heart ailments and assist in maintaining healthy cholesterol levels.
Nutritional Benefits of Ghee
As far as nutritional benefits of ghee go, it does offer vitamin A, vitamin E and K, but so does butter.
However ghee also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been studied to promote moderate fat loss and protects against colorectal and breast cancers. The fats found in it may also reduce inflammation and balance gut health.
Overall, there is very little advantages of ghee over butter and choosing one or the other is a matter of personal preference but from a personal experience, it is something you WANT in your life!
Particularly for this reason, I want to share an amazingly easy way to make your own ghee at home. Making my own big batches has saved me the money that goes into buying lactose free organic butter for my lactose intolerant son.
Simple Recipe to Make Your Own Ghee!
What You Will Need
2 pounds of Unsalted, organic, grass fed butter (grass fed butter has omega 3’s)
What You Need to Do
Start with a deep, heavy bottomed pot on medium high.
Add the butter and let it melt through. (this can take a while)
Once the melted butter starts to simmer and boil, (this happens between 221 to 244 degrees Fahrenheit) you will have to keep an eye on the pot, as sometimes the butter can boil over.
As the temperature starts rising above 266 degrees Fahrenheit, (the temperature at which lactose casein and whey proteins start separating), the boiling butter will make a good amount of noise.
Use a spoon to remove the foam that is created and discard.
After about 8 minutes, you will find the ghee bubbling away. It's going to be very loud. Making ghee is also kind of a listening game where you have to listen for the fervent bubbling and when it goes quiet is where you want to turn down the heat and start keeping an eye on it.
At 12-13 minutes in, the residual foam settles down and all you have to do is wait for it to additionally cook and develop some really cool butterscotch flavors into the ghee.
Turn off the heat as the ghee starts to turn a gorgeous gold color and put it away from the hot burner. Leaving the pot on the burner may cause the ghee to get darker in color and nuttier in taste.
Once it is moderately cooled, pour the ghee into glass mason jars.
Don't try to pour something hot or warm inside of plastic that's just not a good idea as the plastics can melt and leech in the fat.
If you are not confident about your pouring game, it always helps to have a cheesecloth placed in a strainer as you pour the ghee through it. This especially helps if you have someone in the house that is particularly sensitive to the milk proteins.
There you have it-homemade ghee! You can experiment with adding some sea salt (how long does sea salt last?) or turmeric to give it a touch of flavor. Store the key at room temperature for up to six months or refrigerated for practically forever!
