How to make your own Ghee
Federica shares her process:
This ghee is great whenever you need butter in cooking, for anything, but particularly for Indian dishes.
First, find the best quality unsalted butter you can. I use goat’s butter, but ordinary dairy butter will do.
Use a large pan, (make sure it will fit in your fridge) and put your butter in (I use three 250g or 8oz packs). Add about 2 inches of water, and put on very low heat. Keep an eye on it; when the butter is all melted, turn off the heat, and allow the melted butter to cool completely. This separates the pure butter oil from any impurities and additives in the butter.
When cold, carefully put it into the fridge, and allow it to go good and hard, and solid. Leave it overnight.
The next day, poke a hole in the very edge, between the ghee and the pan. Then poke another hole somewhere in the middle. This releases the vacuum. Shake the pan a little bit to stir up the water, then pour the water off, and discard. You’ll find it’s milky, with impurities.
Repeat the process. Add some more water, and again, place on a very low flame. Melt the butter, and then allow to cool again. Put into the fridge for 4 hours or so, depending on when you do it, or overnight. Drain off the water as before. If it’s not quite clear, do it once more.
When the water is as clear as when you first put it in, then the ghee is ready. Drain thoroughly, but leave the ghee in the pan. You now need to eliminate any traces of water.
Reheat the ghee through until it’s melted, then let it become quite hot, and permit any remaining traces of water to boil through the ghee and evaporate away. Once this is done, let the ghee cool, and while still liquid, pour into clean sterilized glass jars. Put on the lids whilst the ghee is still warm. This will create a vacuum as it cools. Store in the fridge. It lasts for absolute ages!
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