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How to make homemade ghee using unsalted butter

You cannot appreciate the beauty of Indian cooking until you have experienced the sublime aroma of cooking using Homemade Desi Ghee – clarified butter. The smell of ghee takes one back to special occasions where it is used in abundance in both sweet and savoury cooking. I particularly love using homemade ghee in Carrot Halwa

 
Picture of homemade desi ghee which was made from unsalted butter
 

You may wonder why to go to all of the efforts of making homemade ghee? All I ask is that you make homemade ghee just once, you will NEVER go back to shop-bought ever again. Shop bought although more convenient contains chemicals that will alter the taste of the ghee.

What is Desi Ghee?

Desi means ‘Local-Origin’ or ‘Native’ and the ghee is prepared from Cow’s milk made in India and not from any hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Hydrogenated Vegetable oil is sold in India as a lower-cost substitute for ghee made from cow milk, and this method was brought in India during late 1930s by the Netherlands thus it’s called Vilayati Ghee means ‘of foreign origin’.

 

Why is Ghee used in Indian Cooking

There is a lot of research and debate into Desi Ghee or clarified butter. Ghee and the Indian culture is synonymous with each other.

Ghee is sacred and a celebrated symbol of auspiciousness, prosperity, and nourishment and you find it widely used around Diwali.

Ghee is a huge favourite across India and amongst Indians living around the globe, especially in daily routine likes cooking and for religious purposes.

In the olden days when you see a person of 70-80 working or leading a healthy life one would say ‘he or she has eaten Desi Ghee for the whole of their life, that’s why even at this age they are so fit’!

In our household daily routine eating ghee every day not a good idea, but when I prepare any Indian sweets like Gujarati Churma Ladoo or Mohanthal, I use it because I love my Indian sweets made of Desi Ghee.

Picture of homemade desi ghee which was made from unsalted butter

What goes in the Homemade Ghee

You’ll be so pleased to know that to make easy and simple Ghee recipe you’ll only be required is

  • Butter, it could be salted, unsalted or organic but try to use a good quality butter. We have used organic unsalted butter.
Picture of stacks of unsalted butter which will be made into ghee

Can I use salted butter to make ghee?

Yes, definitely you can. Even with salted butter, you can make ghee successfully and delicious.

Make sure you use bigger pan as salted butter will create more foam.

How to make Homemade Desi Ghee from Butter step-by-step recipe pictures.

1. Place the butter in a clean pan on low heat.

2. Let the butter melt, do not stir.

3. Allow all the butter to melt.

4. Once it does, increase the heat to medium.

An image of making desi ghee from butter

5. The white foam will appear.

6. After a few minutes, the foam will start to disappear and bubbles will come to the surface.

7. Slowly bubbles will settle and milk solids will start settling on the bottom of the pan.

8. Clear butter will come up.

9. Let the ghee to cool down a bit but not set.

10. Strain it with a strainer or cheesecloth, make sure milk residue does not come in the ghee.

11. Ghee is ready to use or store.

 

How to make homemade ghee in Instant Pot?

1. Set the timer for 10 minutes on saute mode.

2. Add butter and let it melt.

3. Let the butter boil and it will become frothy.

4. The milk solids will begin to start separate and water will evaporate.

5. Cook until the milk solids settle the bottom of the pan and clear ghee shows.

6. Turn off the instant pot, ghee continues to cook and milk solids will be caramelized.

7. Ghee is cooked, remove the pan and strain the ghee.

Now that I have my ghee ready, I am off to make ghee loaded Sukhdi!

Tip:
I use the leftover residue to make Gujarati Bhakhri or Dudhi Na Muthia as moin and don’t use oil.

 

How To Make Ghee from Butter

Hayley Dhanecha
Learn how to make homemade ghee or clarified butter from unsalted butter.
No ratings yet
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Cuisine Indian
Servings 50 servings
Calories 9 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 750 grams butter I used 3 blocks of 250g unsalted butter

Instructions
 

  • Place butter in a pan over low heat.
  • Let the butter melt, increase the heat to medium.
  • Once melted you will see foam gathering on the top.
  • Reduce the heat and let it boil.
  • Do not cover the pan.
  • The white solid bits will settle to the bottom and thick layer of gold liquid forms in the centre.
  • You will hear little splutter sounds while the butter boils and you can see that the foamy layer begins to settle down too.
  • Slowly you will be able to see clear golden ghee and layers of solids will stay to the bottom.
  • Switch off the heat.
  • Do not disturb ghee for 3-4 minutes.
  • Once it’s settled carefully spoon off the top layer of scum.
  • Line the sieve with the cheesecloth, and strain off the ghee into the container.
  • Let it cool at the room temperature or use it in your recipe.

Video

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
How To Make Ghee from Butter
Amount per Serving
Calories
9
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
0.5
g
1
%
Saturated Fat
 
0.3
g
2
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
0.03
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
0.1
g
Cholesterol
 
2
mg
1
%
Sodium
 
16
mg
1
%
Potassium
 
20
mg
1
%
Carbohydrates
 
1
g
0
%
Sugar
 
1
g
1
%
Protein
 
0.5
g
1
%
Vitamin A
 
25
IU
1
%
Calcium
 
17
mg
2
%
Iron
 
0.004
mg
0
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

The nutritional information provided is an approximation calculated by an online calculator/plugin. Please consult a professional dietitian for nutritional advice.

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Recipe Rating




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Sunday 6th of February 2022

[…] – using good quality desi ghee is the key to perfect nankhatai. We like to make our own homemade desi ghee from unsalted […]

Catherine

Tuesday 25th of July 2017

I've never had ghee but love this homemade version!

Charl

Tuesday 25th of July 2017

Would this work with dairy free butter?

Beth

Tuesday 25th of July 2017

I feel that natural is always better! Like you said, everything in moderation!

Ashley

Tuesday 25th of July 2017

I love ghee and haven't made my own in quite some time. Thanks for the reminder - this looks great!