Homemade Ghee

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make ghee? Get your butter ready. I recommend using at least 500 grams; with less, you'll end up with too little. Choose the best-quality, best-tasting butter, with no vegetable additives and a high fat content.

2. Step 2:

   

   For clarifying, be sure to use a heavy-bottomed pot! This matters, because the butter can scorch as it cooks. Aluminum isn't suitable for this recipe. The best pot is cast iron, but a stainless one works too, as long as it has a thick bottom. Put the butter in the pot and leave it at room temperature for a couple of hours until it softens. Then cut it into smaller pieces.

3. Step 3:

   

   You can clarify the butter either on the stovetop or in the oven. I went with the first method, since it's easier to keep an eye on and easier to show you. :) Set the pot over low heat.

4. Step 4:

   

   Wait until the butter has completely melted. You can stir it gently along the way. As soon as it comes to a boil, immediately turn the heat down as low as it will go. The butter should simmer and bubble gently — it should never boil hard. But you don't want it completely still either — a gentle simmer. Don't cover the pot.

5. Step 5:

   

   From time to time, skim off the foam that forms on the surface so the butter doesn't scorch.

6. Step 6:

   

   At first the butter is cloudy, with white flecks floating in it. When the white particles on the bottom and sides of the pot start to turn golden-brown and the butter becomes clear enough to see the bottom of the pot, that's the signal to turn off the heat. If you clarify the butter over too high a heat or for too long, it will darken and start to give off an acrid smell.

7. Step 7:

   

   This process took me 2 hours. Keep in mind it may take more or less time — go by the state of your butter. Finished ghee has a golden color and is clear.

8. Step 8:

   

   Skim off the foam with a small strainer or spoon. Don't throw the foam away — you can add it to porridge or other dishes. Try not to touch the bottom and sides of the pot, so you don't disturb the sediment.

9. Step 9:

   

   Take clean, dry jars. You'll also need cheesecloth folded into several layers. Strain the hot ghee into the jars through the cheesecloth. Pour it carefully — first, it's very hot, and second, pouring slowly keeps the sediment at the bottom.

10. Step 10:

    

    Hot ghee is clear, honey-colored, and very fragrant. Once it cools, put it in the fridge. There it will harden into the clarified butter we're all used to — firm and matte. Ghee can be stored in any cool place other than the fridge.