Ain't nothin' but a GHEE thang...

GHEE!! 

I have only recently started using and making my own ghee. Ghee is really just a fancy name for clarified butter. It is infinitely better for you than butter or margarine because all of the impurities have been removed, such as saturated fat and milk solids. Ghee can help lubricate the connective tissues in your body, promoting flexibility, which makes it a favorite food of yogis worldwide. You can use it in place of cooking oil, butter or margarine and is even tasty as a spread on bagels and muffins. 

A few months ago I made my first batch of ghee on my stovetop at home. I was warned by a friend, "Don't buy ghee, it's too expensive and it's just so easy to make." So I looked up the recipe on Ayurveda Institute's webiste: (http://www.ayurveda.com/online_resource/ghee_recipe.htm) and started making my list of ingredients...one pound unsalted butter. After returning from the store with my unsalted butter, I realized that I didn't have any cheesecloth. Excited to even need an advanced-cooking type supply like cheesecloth, I hauled myself back to the grocery store to buy a package of that and an airtight, glass container with a lid.

Finally prepared, I got to work. Having no real idea of what I was doing, I tried to follow the recipe as closely as I could. It wasn't terribly difficult, but it was messy. The butter pops and splatters everywhere as the saturated fat rises to the top. This I wasn't prepared for at all. My daughter, aged 13, wandered into the kitchen at this point and exclaimed, "Are you doing a science experiment in here? What's all the bubbling for?" My suggestion is to use a deep pot, like a soup pot, so the splatters won't totally coat your entire kitchen floor and counter and stovetop surfaces. 

The final result was a big tub of ghee that lasted us over 2 months! It is shelf stable, but it is very important to only scoop ghee out of the container with a clean, dry utensil. If water or bacteria get into the ghee it can easily spoil. The health benefits of ghee are enormous and grow as it ages. 

So, I ran out of ghee yesterday making a batch of kitchari (an ayurvedic food, sort of like a rice soup), and my family is already clamoring for more! Who knew they would take to ghee so quickly? One of my tasks today is to make some more. I hope that my kitchen can withstand a thorough coating in clarified butter and a brisk cleaning afterwards.