Ghee Is Not Clarified Butter
It's much more
Every morning at the Dutt House, my family home in Kolkata, the shrill buzz of the doorbell let everyone know that the milkman was here.
I wasn't a fan of drinking milk everyday and I especially despised the layer of cream that collected on top of the fresh, warm, full fat milk. This layer of milk cream is where the story of ghee begins.
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Once a sizable amount of cream is collected, the cream is churned into butter and then that butter is used to make ghee.
It can take months sometimes to collect enough cream to make a decent quantity of ghee so I take the easy route.
I usually make my ghee from butter which means I skip the long and laborious step of churning butter from cream. It's not because I don't enjoy long and laborious cooking endeavors. It's because I use ghee quite profusely in my cooking and I couldn't possible keep up with the quantity that my household demands.
Ghee has been popular in the Western world for quite some time now so I'm sure you all know that ghee is essentially clarified butter and one of the most popular cooking mediums in Indian cuisine.
Often this term clarified butter is taken too literally while producing ghee and the result is solidified clarified butter, not ghee.
Let me explain.
I understand that there are different ways of making ghee but the ghee I grew up consuming in Kolkata had a deep caramel aroma and a light brown color. It wasn't pale yellow and flat like the options you can find at most grocery stores.
Clarified butter is butter cooked just enough so that the milk solids separate. Ghee is cooked for a lot longer so it develops those intense nutty and caramelized notes.
Clarified butter tastes like butter but ghee has more depth of flavor that can only be achieved by caramelizing the milk solids till they are deep brown.
There is a fine line between burning the milk solids and cooking them to perfection, just like a good caramel. I couldn't tell you how long you need to cook yours for because there are so many variables: the fat % in your butter, the pan you're using, the heat source and many more.
I have made hundreds of jars of ghee and the best advice I can give you is to use your sense and be present.
Making ghee can seem like a passive activity but in fact, it requires your full attention just like a good caramel that has the right amount of bitterness.
There are three phases in the process of making ghee from butter.
The first phase involves melting the butter gently. At this stage, I don't want to heat too high because that can lead to uneven caramelization of the milk solids.
The second phase to let the butter bubble away so the moisture in the butter can evaporate. This is the stage where you can see vigorous bubbling and lots of steam.
The third stage is the one that requires utmost care. The large bubbles have dissipated and milk solids start to turn a deep, golden brown and there is a nutty aroma in the air.
I standardized this process when I was making and selling ghee in California but I often find myself relying on the most useful tool, my senses.
I've made it so many times now that I can tell the ghee is ready just by the subtle changes in the aroma.
All that's left after that, is to strain it and let it solidify. I strain it twice: once to decant it from the hot pan that it was cooking in so it doesn't cook any further and then through a muslin cloth or coffee filter to get the fine bits of milk solids out.
The grainy texture is a sign that patience was practiced during the process of making the ghee. It means that the ghee was cooled slowly at room temperature rather than rapidly in the fridge.
I'm so happy I got to make this jar of ghee with you. I hope you make a jar for yourself because there is nothing like a dollop of homemade ghee on warm plain rice.
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