How To Make Perfect Ghee And Store It Properly

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Ghee, a clarified butter used in Indian cooking, has become increasingly popular in the U.S. in the last few years. As ghee is heated low and slow, vitamins and antioxidants that would break down at higher temperatures are instead preserved. Made properly, ghee is also lactose-free. Mostly, though, ghee is prized for its nutty flavor, high smoke point, and the fact that it is relatively shelf stable. To make the perfect ghee at home, Tasting Table consulted Hawa Hassan, author of the new cookbook, "Setting a Place for Us: Recipes and Stories of Displacement, Resilience, and Community from Eight Countries Impacted by War."

According to Hassan, choosing the right butter is important if you want great ghee. She tells us to "start with unsalted, high-fat butter, ideally from grass-fed cows." If you can find it, Hassan advises using cultured butter to increase the ghee's nuttiness. "You want butter with as few additives as possible," she notes. If you're in the U.S., finding high-fat butter can be a little difficult. Since the minimum fat level set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is 80%, most American creameries stick to that number to avoid flavor variations.

For higher fat-content butter, look out for brands imported from the EU, where butterfat minimums are higher. Otherwise, look for high-fat U.S. offerings like Vital Farms' luxurious unsalted butter, or make your own butter at home. If you want to try ghee with cultured butter, consider Vermont Creamery's Unsalted Cultured Butter (it's Martha Stewart's favorite butter, so it must be good).

The ghee-making process isn't quick. Heating can take from 20 minutes to an hour. This might sound vague, but as Hassan explains, there's only one way to tell when ghee is ready, and that's watching it. Set a heavy-bottomed pot or skillet on a gentle heat. "Let it bubble gently, and don't stir; just watch," she advises. "The milk solids will sink and brown at the bottom." Once the solids are golden and "the liquid is clear and fragrant," it's time to strain your ghee. However, Hassan adds a word of warning to the impatient: never to walk away from our cooking butter, as "ghee goes from perfect to burnt faster than you'd think."

Use a fine strainer or a double layer of cheesecloth to strain the ghee into the jar (or jars) you'll be storing it in. Hassan notes that jars used should always be totally dry, as "water and ghee don't mix well." Or at all, really, given that ghee is clarified fat. It's also a good idea to fill jars as close to the top as possible and use several smaller jars rather than one large one. If there's a lot of air trapped in with the ghee, it might reduce the vitamin content. If you have multiple jars, you can always open one and store the others for later use.

When it comes to storing homemade ghee, Hassan says she often stores hers "in a clean glass jar on the counter if [she will] use it within a month, or in the fridge for longer storage." Make sure the container you choose is airtight and nonporous, and once you open it, try to keep it free of other substances (such as crumbs, for example) to extend its life. In the pantry, a dry and sealed container of ghee "can last several months," Hassan notes. In the fridge, ghee is good for as long as a year, and it can be frozen for even longer. If you plan to keep your ghee for a while, remember to write the date you made your ghee on whatever you're keeping it in.

Once you've mastered turning butter into perfect ghee, you'll need a few ways to use it. The obvious place to start is with these must-try Indian dishes, but the clarified butter's high smoke point makes it a great choice for sautéing or frying pretty much anything (though some people like to combine it with oil). Ghee can be the star, too. Its nutty flavor means it's delicious on toast or as a small twist on soft and fluffy scrambled eggs. Despite its incredible shelf life, you may find yourself using Hassan's tips for making ghee more regularly than expected!