Ghee

Ghee is a cooking fat made by simmering butter until its water evaporates and milk solids separate. The remaining clarified butter has a nutty flavor and a long culinary history in South Asia.

Clarified butter: Butterfat separated from butter’s water and milk solids, usually by heating and straining. Ghee is a browned, aromatic form of clarified butter.
South Asian cuisine: The diverse culinary traditions of the Indian subcontinent and neighboring regions. Ghee is a widely used fat across many South Asian cuisines.
Indian cooking: Cooking traditions in India, encompassing diverse regional ingredients and methods. Ghee seasons, fries, and enriches dishes across Indian cooking.
Butter: A dairy product made by churning cream into a water-in-fat emulsion containing milk solids. Ghee is produced from butter by removing its water and milk solids.
Maillard reaction: A set of chemical reactions between amino acids and reducing sugars that produce browned foods’ flavors and aromas. Heating milk solids in butter creates browned, nutty aromas associated with ghee.
Ayurveda: A traditional South Asian system of medicine and health practices. Ayurvedic texts and practices assign ghee dietary and medicinal roles.
Tadka: A cooking technique in which spices are briefly fried in hot fat and added to a dish. Ghee carries the aroma of spices in many tadka preparations.
Anhydrous milk fat: A dairy fat made by removing nearly all water and nonfat milk solids from butter or cream. This standardized dairy ingredient resembles ghee but need not have its browned flavor.
Caramelization: The heat-driven breakdown of sugars that produces brown color and characteristic flavors. Lactose in butter’s milk solids can contribute to browning during ghee preparation.
Vedic religion: The ancient religious tradition reflected in the Vedas, foundational to later Hindu traditions. Vedic ritual texts describe offerings of clarified butter into sacrificial fires.

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