How to Make Ghee

by MissyMoo on March 2, 2010


esotericteaching.org Ghee, or clarified butter is a very important ingredient of Vedic cuisine and Ayurvedic medicine. It is high in complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fat, and acts as a carrier for subtle flavor and nutrients. Here we show how to make ghee from a 5-kg. block of unsalted butter. I use my own special method developed over many years of temple cooking. It has the advantage of making very clean and full-flavored ghee and also lots of solids that can be used as a butter replacement. We originally made this video for our personal students; we had no idea how popular it would become. This told us that we have an opportunity to educate people about Vedic vegetarian home cooking, and so since then we have released many videos of recipes. Please take advantage of them to make your vegetarian cooking very tasty, and offer the result to the Lord.

{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }

disorganiserimp March 2, 2010 at 10:34 pm

Thanks for the video. I did not know about boiling the ghee a second time.
What do you think about filtering the ghee throug a cheese cloth instead of the reshuffling through the different pots?

davidbrucehughes March 2, 2010 at 11:28 pm

We’ll do a video on how to make curry with real curry leaves one of these days. . .

19jeeprider87 March 2, 2010 at 11:43 pm

Thanks very the great video. It really helped me a lot when I was trying to make some curry for the first time.

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 12:10 am

Nobody in South India wears a shirt when it’s hot. Why? I consider a day successful if I can get through it without wearing more than necessary. Let’s relax and be comfortable!

YgAriff March 3, 2010 at 12:30 am

(joke) I think one of the golden rule is you must make it without wearing any shirt just like in India hehe . . just kidding

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 12:46 am

Schön Herr Weisenheimer: Ich haf not ze slightest idea vot you bist talking aboutt! Ve never haf to justify, zince ve are alvays reich. . . I mean right! Maybe ve vas wrong vunce, ven ve sought ve had made a mis-take. Ve must maintain ze purity uf our precious buttery fluidz!!! Am I making myzelf clear? Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Weisenheimer78 March 3, 2010 at 12:47 am

You are hilarious. I like the look and I LOVE your justification-reply from 1 week ago. I’d make Ghee with you anytime.

abbscobutsna March 3, 2010 at 1:45 am

Oh I figured as much. . I have made ghee many times, but being a female I don’t make it without a shirt. You men have it made. You taught me a few new things making the ghee. Never had such detailed instructions from anywhere else. Thanks

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 1:57 am

Hey, it was a blazing hot day in the middle of summer in Chile, I had not worn a shirt in weeks and was not about to put one on when I was going to cook ghee over a hot stove. Would you? Anyway I’m retired and don’t have to wear a shirt if I don’t want to. Who knew this would become our #1 video?

abbscobutsna March 3, 2010 at 2:31 am

Where is your shirt????? Good video??

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 3:08 am

It depends on the level of purity you need. Since we are using for pūjā and like that, we need very pure ghee.

deepika091 March 3, 2010 at 3:50 am

oh. . . my mother has been making Ghee for last 60yrs and she can’t understand why you have to do it like this?

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 4:20 am

Ooops, yes that what I meant. Ghee solidifies at about 80 degrees F (26 C).

dannybex March 3, 2010 at 5:19 am

Don’t you mean it will not solidy unless you put it in the refridgerator?

???

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 5:54 am

It will solidify unless you put it in the refrigerator. This is normal.

joemattia March 3, 2010 at 6:23 am

Hi thanks for the video. Yesterday I made ghee for the second time following your directions. It still has not solidified. Did i do something wrong.

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 6:58 am

That’s woo-woo. The est day to make ghee is when you have plenty of time to do it right.

krivoy March 3, 2010 at 7:55 am

Thank you for this video it really helps.

But I heard that it’s better to make ghee during a full moon. Is it true? Are there any specific days when it’s better to make ghee ?

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 8:14 am

No, because the ghee is very hot, especially in the second phase of cooking. You would have to make sure the cloth had no synthetic content, otherwise it would melt or even burn and ruin the taste. I suppose a fine metal mesh strainer could be useful for skimming the solids, though.

Jayfoxpox March 3, 2010 at 8:34 am

when separating the solids have you ever tried to use a cheese cloth?

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 9:09 am

You have to be very careful when boiling the last water and particles out. As you experienced, if the temperature goes just a little too high, the particles can burn and the ghee will taste overdone. Proceeding slowly and cautiously is always the best policy with ghee.

devinrocksmyworld March 3, 2010 at 9:38 am

I had just made some clarified butter just before I looked up this video. I decided to boil the rest of the water out, and it only had a small bit of impurities at the bottom. As it was boiling and just about done, I stirred it a little, and the ghee turned quickly darker and smelled. I waited for it to cool a bit and ran it through a coffee filter. There were little black specs in the filter. Is that normal? If not, I like the “overdone” flavor, but I don’t know if everyone will. . .

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 10:32 am

That’s exactly what a colloid is: oil and solids suspended in a fluid medium. Making butter precipitates the solids but of course there is still some moisture. Making ghee uses heat to separate the solids from the oil.

There is good fat and bad fat. Vitamins A, D, E and K are only made available to the body when taken with fats. Ghee contains short-chain saturated fats which are health-promoting. The Ayur-veda praises the health benefits of ghee.

pchk1 March 3, 2010 at 11:27 am

oic . . . thanks for the explanation.

I was just thinking that moisture and fat/oil never mix so it’s not supposed to be contained in the butter.

By the way have you got any nutritional information and health issues concerning ghee – I mean I love the flavour of ghee (and butter) but it isn’t it supposed to be a saturated fat?

davidbrucehughes March 3, 2010 at 11:38 am

Milk is a colloidal suspension of solids in a liquid. When you make butter you condense those solids and extract them from the buttermilk. The next step is to make ghee, which extracts the oil from the solids. Of course butter contains water, it is churned from milk. Like most biological products, milk is mostly water. It comes from cows!

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