Ghee or clarified butter is a very crucial ingredient for us Indians and there are innumerable foods which simply can not be imagined without ghee in them. For the record, I can’t think of making “Pulao”, one of my favourites, without ghee 🙂

However, I never thought in my wildest of dreams that someday I would prepare ghee at my own kitchen. But as they say “necessity is the mother of invention”, my necessity also leads me to make it all by myself. I finished my two bottles of ghee which I brought from India and then started to miss it dearly. In Europe, though a large varity in butter is found, one could not find a good quality ghee. So at the end tried my hand to give it a shape all in my kitchen. However must admit that the end product was not as good as market bought ghee still quite satisfactory.

Ingredients : Good quality unsalted butter

Cut the butter into medium size cubes. It helps the butter to melt fast and evenly.

Melt them in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Continue boiling and keep stirring gently from time to time.

Pretty soon a thick, white foam will appear at the top of bright yellow and opaque butter.

Keep stirring and then put the flame on medium-low as the butter starts to simmer.

After simmering for 5-6 minutes, without stirring, one can see that gradually bubbles are emerging from the foam. As the bubble increases, foam will become thinner.

Soon, the milk solids will start to curdle and attach the sides of the pan. Just scrape the sides of the pan to help those milk solids sink to the bottom.

As the milk solids sink to the bottom, butter will begin to clear up. It will get more and more translucent, the bubbles will get larger and the foam will eventually completely disappear.

Now the butter will get nice golden colouration as the milk solids, at the bottom, begin to brown.

Keep a close eye on your butter and keep stirring, scraping the sides and bottom so the milk solids don’t attach to the pan and burn.

Now as the butter starts foaming again, let it boil 1-2 minutes more till it gets light brown colour and then put the gas off, add pinch of salt. Let it cool down for few minutes.

Then strain the ghee through a cheese cloth or strainer in an air tight container.

Now leave you ghee at room temperature for few hours so that it can set properly.

You can store ghee for several months. There is no need to put it into fridge.