Basics: Homemade Clarified Butter "Ghee"

Ghee,Clarified Butter is made by boiling unsalted butter( in a thick bottomed pan) and eliminating the foamy whey+ milk solids from butter.Even though Ghee is prevalently used in India they are also quite common in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Ethiopia and few other countries. Unlike butter, Ghee neither burns easily nor have a short shelf-life. It doesn't have to be refrigerated either and can be stored up to 3 months. Many of the Indian dishes, especially sweets are made with ghee. And Ghee certainly has a fewer calories than butter. How rewarding!
Ghee solidifies during cold weather. Melt it before using in any dish to unlock the aroma to its fullest.

Some dishes from my kitchen with Ghee -- Fruit Kesari,  Rice Dumplings in Coconut Milk, Channa Masala, Cocoa N Saffron Vermicelli Pudding, Steamed Sweet Rice Dumplings "Kozhukattai" and of-course Ghee Rice.

Question: What do you do with the milk solids settled at the bottom of the pan? My next post will be on what I did with it.

Ingredients(Makes ~ 3/4 Cup):

• 8 Ounces(2 Sticks/ 1 Cup) "Unsalted" Butter
• 1 Stalk Curry Leaf, cleaned and patted dry with paper towel (Optional)

Tools:

• Thick Bottomed Steel Pan like All-Clad or Kadai (Indian Wok)
• Steel Strainer

Procedure:

• Start off by melting 2 sticks of butter in a thick bottomed pan.

• Keep the heat at medium-low. Keep stirring occasionally and push the foamy whey  to the sides of the pan.

• The foamy whey bubbles to the top and most of them settle at the bottom of the pan after 10 minutes of simmering.

• Switch off the stove and throw in the stalk of curry leaf(if using). Let it cool completely.
• Skim the foamy whey and the curry leaf stalk on top and carefully strain the golden brown "Clarified Butter" into a storage jar/cup without disturbing the milk solids settled at the bottom.
• Use the ghee to make sweets, curries or biryani.

Makes ~3/4 Cup of Ghee

Enjoy!