How to Make Ghee – A Complete Guide for Beginners

Ghee is a type of clarified butter that is traditional in Indian cuisine. This nutty flavored and high smoke point fat has been used for thousands of years, with deep roots in Ayurvedic practices. Making desi ghee at home is simple, easy and cost effective and will render much better flavor than commercially available varieties. Follow along with me as I show you how to make ghee recipe in the traditional Indian way with the help of step-by-step photos and video.

All About Ghee

Ghee is a kind of clarified butter widely used in Indian cooking. It is made by gently simmering unsalted butter until the milk solids separate, caramelize, and the moisture evaporates.

What’s left is a clear, golden fat that is strained to remove the browned solids. This clarified butter has a pleasant aroma, subtle nutty taste, and high smoke point, making it great for stir-frying, sautéing, and deep frying.

Traditionally made at home, ghee is valued not just for its taste and versatility, but also for its long shelf life. It enhances both sweet and savory dishes across Indian cuisine.

Ghee has been made in India for centuries and is widely used in the Indian cuisine. It has a much higher smoke point than regular butter, making it an excellent fat for high heat cooking.

It also happens to be shelf stable (meaning no refrigeration is required) and is even appropriate for people with lactose intolerance.

Ghee is also lauded as an Ayurvedic superfood with anti-inflammatory and digestion aiding properties.

High in Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, DHA, as well as in vitamins A, D, E and K, this butterfat breaks the mold and is even being accepted as a healthful food by western medicine standards.

Ghee is so important to both Indian cuisine and identity. It is considered to be one of the highest offering in the fire rituals that are called as as Havan or Homam in the Hindu culture. Ghee is also a part of panchamrit that is offered to the deities.

Do note that the desi ghee offered in the havan ritual should be made from cow’s milk and not buffalo’s milk. Cow’s milk is considered satvik and buffalo’s milk is considered tamasic.

Now that you know how wonderful ghee can be, let’s set about learning how to make ghee at home, shall we?

The Importance of Using Cultured Butter

Traditionally, desi ghee recipe is made from cultured cream or curd (yogurt) that comes from locally sourced, grass fed Desi cows.

This cultured cream or yogurt is then churned to get cultured butter. Only then is the butter heated and slow simmered to get ghee.

There was a time I would follow the age-old process of making homemade cultured butter to use for making ghee. Now, due to lack of time, I use store-bought unsalted cultured butter.

For this ghee recipe, be sure to procure unsalted, grass fed and preferably organic butter from Desi cows, as this will result in the most traditional tasting ghee and will be easy to digest.

In just 20 to 25 minutes you can have beautiful homemade ghee that is so much better tasting (and healthier for you!) than pre-packaged varieties.

Along with homemade ghee, you can also learn how to make these dairy essentials at home:

• How to make Butter
• How to Make Paneer
• How to Make Curd
• How to Make Chenna
• How to Make Hung Curd
• How to Make Khoya

How to Make Ghee

This recipe for making homemade ghee recipe is quite simple. That said, please note that you should remain in your kitchen for the entirety of this process.

Ghee can go from caramelized to burnt in a flash! Stay attentive and vigilant so you get the best quality ghee around.

I have also read that one should make desi ghee during the full moon. The energies of the moon are infused in the ghee if you make it on a full moon day.

Let’s begin with how to make ghee from butter at home.

Melt Butter

1. Grab a large, heavy-bottomed pot or pan. Chop butter roughly and place in the pan covering the entire surface of the pan evenly. For this ghee recipe, I have used a 3 litre (3.17 quarts) pot.

For this ghee recipe, I have used 500 grams of unsalted cultured butter. You could scale the recipe to make a small or big batch by using any amount of butter. If you plan to make a larger batch, make sure to use a large pot or pan.

Tip: The pot has to be large and heavy. A smaller pan will cause the melted butter to spill over while bubbling and frothing. A lighter thin bottomed pan can make the butter or ghee burn too fast.

2. Place pan on stovetop and heat on medium-low to medium heat. The butter will begin to melt.

3. Stir in intervals when butter begins to melt to assist the larger pieces. 

Simmer Butter

4. When all the butter has melted, reduce heat to the lowest setting and simmer gently. 

5. About a minute or so after all the butter is melted, you will hear sounds from the bottom of the pan and see milk solids appearing on the surface. 

6. The entire surface will be covered with milk solids. Continue to simmer. 

You will see the color change gradually to a from a buttery, pale yellow to light golden with the butter bubbling and shimmering. 

The bubbling and frothing is due to the water present in the butter.

7. Continue to stir occasionally. 

Make Ghee

8. After some time, the milk solids will begin to settle at the bottom and the surface will start to look clearer. 

9. Continue to simmer for a couple of minutes after all the milk solids have settled. 

Tip: I prefer to use a light colored pan so that I can see the color of the milk solids at the bottom when I stir. 

10. When you see medium to large sized bubbles forming on the top and the entire mixture is bubbling, you are almost done! Continue to simmer for a 1 to 2 minutes more.

Tip: If you keep the pan on the heat for too long, the milk solids will get too browned or even burnt. You must be attentive here!

11. Remove from heat and place the pan on the countertop. You will see a layer of fine tiny bubbles on the top. Don’t worry – these bubbles go away as the ghee gradually cools.

12. The milk solids will begin to caramelize and turn golden from the residual heat, and you will see the color of ghee become darker.

13. Wait until all the simmering stops and you see the browned bits of milk solids at the bottom. 

14. Here is another photo of the browned milk solids.

Strain

15. While the ghee is still hot, pour it through the strainer or cheese cloth placed on top of a glass jar. If your pan isn’t very heavy, simply lift it and pour the ghee. I used a heavy ceramic coated cast iron pan, so using a ladle made this process easier.

Tip: Make sure the glass jars are heat proof as the ghee will be hot and can shatter glass that isn’t tempered! I find mason jars are perfect for this. Or you can use steel jars.

16. Here’s the liquid gold ghee in a jar. Close tightly when the ghee cools. Store in a cool dry place. 

Storage Suggestions

Use ghee as needed. I recommend pulling out enough ghee for a week or so worth of cooking and keeping it in a small container in the kitchen. I usually make ghee from 500 grams butter, which usually lasts me for about a month or so. 

Store the rest in a cool, dark spot in the pantry for best storage. If stored well, ghee can last up to one year at room temperature.

In warmer climates, refrigerate it to extend shelf life. Always use a clean dry spoon to remove ghee so that you don’t end up contaminating it. 

Once you get the nuances and technique right, making ghee at home becomes easy and effortless. And when you know how to make ghee, you can prepare it anytime, anywhere.

What Can I Make With Ghee

Plenty of Indian food is made in ghee. We not only use ghee as the fat to make lentils, curries, veggies and rice based dishes but also make many of our sweets with it. Knowing how to make ghee at home is especially useful in an Indian kitchen.

It is the preferred fat in Indian cooking (even over butter and oil), especially for sweets and dishes like Biryani and rich curries.

• Use it to sauté, stir-fry or roast your veggies. The high smoking point of ghee helps when you stir fry, bake or roast veggies at a higher temperature.
• Toast your bread with it, or spread it in place of butter on your toasted bread. You will be surprised at how good toast can be with ghee! It is one of my favorite ways to eat toasted bread.
• Add a few spoons on top of Indian food like Khichdi, Dal Tadka, Kadhi while eating. The good fats in ghee helps to digest the food easily.
• Spread it on your Roti or Naan or Pita Bread.
• Roast Paratha in ghee instead of oil.
• Make your Bread loaves and dinner rolls with ghee as the fat.
• Use it in Indian sweets like Carrot Halwa, Kheer, Besan Ladoo and many more.
• Deep fry your food in it.
• Bloom or temper your spices in it.

You can also use ghee for the Ayurvedic practice of oil-pulling!

Different Ways of Making Ghee

While I usually follow the simple recipe above for making ghee quickly, there are other ways of making it as well. Ghee recipe can be made from cream or yogurt as well! Read on below to see how it’s done.

How to Make Cultured Butter from Malai or Cream

I used to make ghee with this Homemade Butter. While it is very delicious, it is much more time consuming than using purchased cultured butter.

You begin by first collecting the cream that floats on top of milk after it is boiled and cooled. Keep collecting these layers of cream (called malai in Hindi) in a freezer safe box. Store covered in the freezer.

When you have about 2 to 3 cups of this cream, remove it from the freezer and place the container of it in your refrigerator overnight.

The next day, remove the cream from the refrigerator. Add ¼ cup curd (yogurt) to 2 cups cream and mix well. Keep it at room temperature for 9 to 12 hours. This will add some good bacterial culture to the cream and the cream will thicken and set.

I find the Instant Pot handy when it comes to setting and culturing the cream. Use the yogurt settings and set the time to 9 hours on normal mode. You do not need to warm the cream before adding the yogurt.

When your cultured cream is ready (after 9 to 12 hours), pour all of it in a blender or stand mixer. Add about ¼ to ½ cup ice cold water and blend until the butter separates from the cream.

When you see the butter separating, collect the butter with a strainer or clean hands draining all the buttermilk.

Tip: Don’t toss the liquid! Store the buttermilk and use it to make pancakes or cakes, muffins, or breads.

You now have homemade cultured butter. Either refrigerate it or use it straightaway to make ghee using the steps for the recipe above.

Ayurvedic Method of Making Ghee with Curd

The Vedic or Ayurvedic method of making butter for ghee is different than blending cream. The ghee recipe here is made from curd (yogurt) that is made with the milk from grass fed indigenous Desi cows, and not the more common jersey cows.

This process also requires a specialized hand churner called a ‘bilona’ (pronounced BEE-low-na).

The curd is added to the bilona pot and is then hand churned by pulling a rope that moves the rod both clockwise and counter-clockwise.

It is this moving of the rods in opposite directions that help to separate the butter from the curd. The process of churning in opposite directions is known as ‘manthan‘ in Hindi.

In recent years, the process of making Ayurvedic ghee has been commercialized through the use of engine driven bilonas.

Do not attempt this in a blender as you won’t get any butter. Trust me! I have tried and failed. The blender blades move in only one direction, and as a result the butter does not separate. So interesting, right?

Making Ghee from Cream

Ghee can also be made with cream that hasn’t been turned into butter. The cream is slow cooked and simmered until the milk solids separate, then caramelize and you get the golden colored ghee. Just note that this process of cooking the cream takes more time than if you use butter instead.

For better flavor and digestion, you can culture the cream before making ghee. To culture the cream, add a few teaspoons of curd or yogurt to it and let it sit at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

This fermentation step enhances the flavor of the ghee and is also believed to make it easier to digest. Once the cream has developed a slight tang, you can proceed to churn it into butter or cook it directly into ghee.

Expert Tips

1. Flavoring: Some people like to infuse ghee with flavors like moringa leaves, betel leaves, or curry leaves. To do this, add a few strands of any of these leaves right after turning off the heat and placing the pan on the countertop. The leaves will cook in the residual heat, turn crisp, and release their aroma into the fat. Strain the ghee and discard the leaves or stems.
2. Pan Type: I prefer using a light-colored pan so I can easily monitor the color of the milk solids as they cook. Always use a heavy or thick-bottomed pan to prevent the butter from burning.
3. Be Attentive: Avoid overheating the ghee. If left on the heat for too long, the milk solids can brown too much or even burn. Stay attentive during the final stage.
4. Jars for Storing Ghee: Use heatproof glass jars since hot ghee can crack regular glass. Mason jars work well for this. You can also store ghee in clean, dry steel containers.
5. Scaling: I usually make homemade ghee using 500 grams of unsalted butter, but you can scale the quantity up or down as needed.
6. Storage duration: Ghee stays good at room temperature for about a year when stored properly. In warmer climates, you can refrigerate ghee to help it last longer.
7. Use a clean spoon: Always use a clean, dry spoon to avoid contamination and spoilage.

FAQs

How to Make Ghee recipe from the archives was originally published on August 2021.