Cookbook:Ghee
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Cookbook | Recipes | Ingredients | Basic foodstuffs | Dairy | Oil
Ghee, or clarified butter, is butterfat that has been separated from the water, proteins, and salt in butter. This is accomplished by heating the butter as slowly as possible, over a low fire, so that the milk solids will not burn. The butter will separate into three layers: the casein, a frothy layer on top; the clarified butterfat--the ghee--in the middle; and the milk solids, and proteins in the bottom, which are also useful. The casein is skimmed off and the fat is then removed with a gravy separator or is ladled off. Many cooks strain the ghee through layers of cheesecloth, which wastes some oils and milk solids. Many people refrigerate the ghee to separate it from the solids. The lactose remains with the watery portion, so ghee can be used to cook for people who are lactose intolerant. (Correction: Casein IS the protein in milk. Is the protein/casein then on the top or bottom layer? This would be important to know for casein intolerant people.)
Ghee also requires a very high temperature before it smokes, and will keep longer than unclarified butter, as bacteria cannot digest a pure oil.
Ghee is used heavily in Indian cuisine. It is considered an extremely pure food in South Asia, and may be used to anoint representations of the deities, both in home worship, performed by laity, and in Temple worship, performed by Brahmin priests. Krishna, one of the most prominent Indian deities is shown stealing butter as an infant, and is a companion of milkmaids, as a young man. The Puranas speak of the gods churning an ocean of milk in order to make an elixir save the lives of the gods.
Plain cooking oil is often substituted when ghee is not available, but it lacks the nut-like flavor of ghee. Butter from cow's milk which has not been rendered is often used, but ghee is preferable and easy to make. Depending on the recipe, a thicker substitute may be more appropriate. Consider the use of shortening, cocoa butter, lard, and squeezable margarine. South Asian food shops often stock tins of 'vegetable ghee', derived from palm oil, which is also solid at room temperature.
