The Kirkland Signature Ingredient You Need For Restaurant-Quality Indian Food At Home

Making curries, daals, and flatbreads at home that rival the aroma and flavor of those prepared in Indian restaurants requires the right balance of spices, fresh produce, and expert culinary technique. But aside from all this, there's one key ingredient that can take your dhansaks and kormas to the next level — a jar of Kirkland brand organic ghee. This wholesome ingredient is awesome for making restaurant-quality Indian food due to its buttery flavor, nutty aroma, and high smoke point.

Ghee is simply a form of clarified butter, which is created by simmering regular butter in a pan until the milk solids separate from the fat. As water in the butter evaporates, the solids fall to the bottom of the pan and the clear fat (the ghee) remains at the top, which can be scooped off and used for cooking. Kirkland's ghee is perfect for cooking curries because it has a much higher smoke point than butter (485 degrees versus 350 degrees). Many Indian dishes, like lamb bhuna or shrimp jalfrezi, have to be fried on a high heat to first bloom and then cook off the raw flavor of whole and ground spices. The combination of the high heat and the rich flavor of the ghee also helps to soften and caramelize the onions that form the base of many Indian curries, resulting in a smooth, fragrant sauce. Unlike other cooking oils, which can include additives like anti-foaming agents, Kirkland's organic ghee contains only one ingredient: organic butter.

Commenters on Reddit have praised Kirkland's organic ghee for its homemade taste and aroma. While other brands of ghee can give off an unpleasant smell if any impurities are present, Costco's offering was described as smelling "amazing." Indeed, the best quality ghee should emit a nutty fragrance, rather than a rancid odor, when heated and lend your Indian dishes depth and body. A contrarian Redditor commented that "ghee is very easy to make. Just get some good butter, you can have ghee in 30 minutes." However, another cheekily replied that if you buy Kirkland's version you "can have ghee in zero minutes."

Ghee is one of the best Indian groceries you can buy at Costco because it isn't used solely for curries. Its versatile nature means it can be used to deep fry Indian breads, like bhaturas and puris, or spread inside parathas to lend them a flaky texture too. Cooking with ghee also boosts the savoriness of vegetarian dishes, like palak paneer, cholay, and rajma.

The label on Kirkland's organic ghee states that "refrigeration is optional." This is because the milk solids in the butter that's used to make it have been removed, which prevents it from becoming rancid when left out on the countertop. Treat it more like a vegetable oil than butter to make the most of its stable shelf life.