Ghee butter is very popular in the Indian Ayurvedic cuisine but lately it's one of the most wanted products in organics shops and not only. This is because it has a wonderful taste and a higher smoking point, which allows frying food in a healthy way. Actually, clarified butter is 99-100% clear fat and it doesn't contain milk protein thanks to the specific method of preparation, so it can be consumed as well by people with lactose intolerance.
Place 500g butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Melt the butter over medium heat.
As the butter melts and it starts to simmer, a layer of foam will rise to surface. I don't remove it, it will boil off anyway, as you can see below.
Now turn the heat down and let simmer for 15-20 minutes - but don't forget about it and keep an eye on it - the time needed depends on the quality of the butter.
After 10 minutes, my butter looks like this.
I stir all the time while it simmers.
After 20 minutes, you can notice that the foam has disappeared and it's turning into some sort of big white flakes - it's the milk proteins which become solid during the simmering process.
When these flakes turn from white to yellow, ghee is ready. Now quickly turn off the heat, it's important to pay attention here and catch this right moment, we don't want the burning process to start.
Let cool in the saucepan for 5-10 minutes, all the solids will settle to the bottom.
Now carefully drain ghee through a fine sieve or a piece of clean gauze in the jar in which you will store it.
Better to leave the yellow solids in the saucepan so that ghee will be as clear as possible.
Out of 500g butter I obtained exactly 500ml ghee butter, but I didn't weigh it, so I'm not able to say the amount in grams :)
Store the butter in glass jars with lids at room temperature. It is said that clarified butter becomes better in quality if not stored in cool places.
If you made the boiling and the separation processes correctly, the ghee butter cannot spoil anymore, as it is just clear fat.
Even if stored at room temperature, ghee butter will become solid, it's only normal.
Now you can use it for anything you cook - vegetables, meat, fish, desserts etc.
Enjoy!