Oooohhh, the silky, smooth texture of ghee. There is nothing more I like than its sweet simplicity!
It’s been a long time since I have made some. In fact, too long! It’s not that I haven’t used ghee for a while. I was in the grocery store several weeks back, and it caught my attention as I was looking for another product. At first I told myself no, I can make my own. I didn’t want to spend the money on it and I knew I could make it myself.
But…I knew better; I was pressed for time, and I had been procrastinating for a while, so I thought, it’s better to buy some and have on hand, then not have any at all. And today I was on the last teaspoon. So the time had come. Today was the day I committed to making my own batch. And I did it!
And oh, how satisfying it was to make my own jar of homemade ghee.
What is ghee you ask? And what is so special about it?
Ahhh, let me share one of the main staples of Ayurvedic cooking.
Simply made, its clarified butter. All you need is some tender loving moments of patience to spend in the kitchen. It involves a slow cooking process over low heat, to separate the milk solids, until the liquid becomes a golden or tan colour. Then you let it cool, skim off the solids and strain the oil. You are left with pure, butter oil. You can use it for cooking, baking, and frying, and it tolerates high temperatures.
In Ayurvedic cooking, it is one of the essential ingredients of the meals, as it helps to carry the medicinal properties of herbs and spices and the nutrients in foods to be assimilated directly into the tissues. It is also considered a good cleansing, lubricating and restorative ingredient that benefits the immune system and our overall health.
But wait… don’t discard the solids. You can use them to spread on your toast or crackers, or better yet, add to one of your favourite low fat meals for extra flavour.
Have fun. Experiment. But most of all, enjoy the taste and sweet simplicity of having made your own sweet liquid gold!
The clarifying process:
The butter just melted
I added a few spices, turmeric, black pepper and fennel, to give it a ‘kick’, and extra medicinal value.
At the end of the cooking process, the curds have separated and oil is visible.
Freshly poured ghee
The final product: my sweet ghee and the curds from the clarifying process
To celebrate my accomplishment, I sat down to eat my lunch of spiced sweet potatoes, salmon, arugula, garnished with seaweed and hemp seeds and a dollop of the spiced curds. Ymmmm!
If you would like a recipe of ghee, complete the form below, and I will be in touch soon. Satnam
ShiroBLISS 