I made Ghee, at home, with my own hands. No I didn't milk the cow or anything and I used a shortcut, but if we put that aside, I made Ghee in bold letters.
With that I graduate from a regular Mom to the ubiquitous Aunty-ji. Pleez do consult me with all your gharelu(household) problems including mom-in-law , husband , bai and water shortage, and of course how to make ghee. That I can't make decent phulkas shall not be discussed in this post.
So I never made ghee @ home before. Never needed to. My ma and ma-in-law took it upon themselves to send home made shuddh desi ghee for Big Sis S till she turned 3. After that it was store bought which was used sparingly since we are not big time ghee eaters. Now Baby A has started on solids and it was time to introduce fat to her. There was no grandma around and Mom found out that making shuddh videshi ghee was not difficult at all, much easier than the cow's milk --> boil milk to gather the cream on top --> save the top cream from milk for days --> make desi ghee route
So this is what Baby A's Mom did to make glorious golden ghee
Read more...
Making Ghee
In a heavy bottomed pot/vessel/pan place 4 sticks of organic unsalted butter. At medium heat let the butter melt. There will be foaming and bubbling while the butter melts but soon this will subside. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered. Stir intermittently. Gradually you will see milk-solids turning from beige to brown and settling down at the bottom while a clear transparent golden liquid remains at top. Once the milk solids turn a deep shade of brown turn off the heat. Note: The point at which you turn off the heat is critical, too little or too much is not desired. Keep watch and don't burn the milk-solid. Also keep the heat at low and don't try to hasten the process by turning heat to high.
Do not disturb the vessel/pot/pan and let the milk solids settle down at the bottom while only the clear liquid remains at the top.
Decant the liquid by tipping the vessel gently and collecting the liquid in a clean dry glass jar. You can also use a cheese cloth or any clean cotton cloth for this purpose
The golden liquid that you just collected is precious ghee. Smell. Heaven.
Let the ghee come to room temperature. Close the jar tight and store at room temperature. If ghee is not made correctly i.e. cooked too little it tends to spoil or sour, but if made correctly it stores well at room temperature
Now we Bengalis do not throw away anything that is edible and the deep brown milk solids that remain at the end of the ghee making process are a delicacy for us. We call it cha(n)chi (ch as in chair and then a nasal sound for n) and eat it mixed with plain white rice, salt and mashed potatoes. Strangely while I do remember the smell of ghee from my childhood, more than the ghee I remember this rich brown "leftover" granules which we used to savor mixed with white rice.
So while the home was fragrant with the smell of ghee we enjoyed a rare dinner of rice, alu sheddo with finely chopped onions and green chillies and dollops of ghee & cha(n)chi.
To make alu sheddo(siddho), boil potatoes skin on till done. Hold under running water and peel the potato. Mash with back of a spatula. Add little mustard oil, finely chopped red onion, finely chopped green chilli and salt. Now with clean hands work all of this in the potato and make smooth rounds of mashed potato. Enjoy this with white rice and dollops of golden ghee.
According to Ayurveda, Ghee builds the aura, makes all the organs soft, builds up the internal juices of the body-Rasa, which are destroyed by aging and increases the most refined element of digestion-Shukra or Ojas, the underlying basis of all immunity and the “essence of all bodily tissues”. Ghee is known to increase intelligence--Dhi, refine the intellect-Buddhi and improve the memory-Smrti.
A little bit of ghee added to your food boosts the flavor and if that ghee is home made the taste triples. So like me if you do not use ghee as a cooking medium, occasionally add half a tsp of ghee just before finishing off your cooking and savor the goodness of ghee. Test
Home madeghee is just full of ayurvedic values... I am a person who can never stand too much hot climate, i start boiling instantly... I was fed my grandmas ghee everyday!!! Oh how much I miss those homemade stuff...
ReplyDeletemy grandmom used to smear the leftover brown stuff on dosas for me. I loved it, though looking back, I was a very plump kid :D
ReplyDeleteYou make it sound so easy! Of course I hated that big lump of cream ... that only got bigger ... sitting in the fridge that my ma collected to make ghee.
ReplyDeleteAhh ... chanchi diye gorom bhaat! :-)
I make at home too, the brown residue is always smear over idli or my granny end up making dhal laddus!
ReplyDeleteummmm,..yummy,..can smell the fragrance of ghee,..;-)
ReplyDeleteI love home made ghee..love the smell of it over dosa and khichdi :) my mom makes ghee at home using malai from milk..
ReplyDeleteI have neve rmade ghee at home eventhough my sis always say it is so easy to make and she tells me in the phone how tomake and i am like ya ya , but never do.
ReplyDeleteMay i have a botled from you.
I can always be your big sis :-)
The sediment is a much coveted delicacy in our parts too
ReplyDeleteTomar title pore amar shokal 6 tar shomoye hnashi thamate parchina:-D
ReplyDeleteThe gold looks lovely! I don't remember when i last bought ghee... costco theke butter ene barite ghee kori.. ar gorom bhaat diye kurkure chanchi..one of our relatives would make gur diye naru with these chanchis!! khete bhesh bhalo hoye.. kintu kheye ki je hobe, shei bhebhe ar bhoye try kori ...
Here I was thinking you were collecting the cream from yogurt to make the ghee.
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful. Have never tried the store bought one, home made seemed so easy ;)
Ramya
ReplyDeleteThe ghee helps to cool ? That is great
Nags
:D me too
Sharmila
It IS easy
Cham, Soma, Indo
You all are acclaimed Auntyji-s then ;-). *Hiding face in shame * because I did not make ghee at home earlier
Notyet
thanks
Parita
Yeah the malai one is great
HC
Yeah sure and then you can make all those delish desserts for me
Sra
Really ? I though only we ate it
Welcome to the Aunty-ji's club.
ReplyDeleteI take an even easier route. ;) I buy the cultured butter from stores to make ghee. :) hehee...
I need to join the aunt-ji bandwagon to make ghee at home! :-O
ReplyDelete*thinking, hmmmm....* sure, take me in. totally worth it methinks!
When I first made ghee post marriage, I felt I had arrived. It gave me the confidence of being a good homemaker and a good mother! I love it when my kitchen fills up with the aroma of ghee-in-the-making. Lovely blog you have here--keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHi Sandeepa,
ReplyDeleteBoishakhi here,was just searching the web for some bengali recipes n happend to find your blog.liked yor stuff a lot,so thought of saying,nice effort,kip up the gd wrk,we r all with u.by the way,ever had bati-chochori?a very simple n comforting basic recipe,cooking time10 minutes flat!
What u need---
Potatoes--4medium sized
cauliflower(optional)
Peas(optional)
Tomatoes--2big sized
Coriander leaves(optional)
Green chillies-4
Masala----
Salt,A lil sugar,haldi powder,mirchi powder,2tbsp of mustard oil.
preparation----
Heat water in a pan,slice the potatoes into juliennes,cut the cauliflower into pieces,wash both the potatoes n the cauliflower pieces n add them to the boilling water,add the peas.Now add salt to taste,a pinch of sugar,the haldi powder n the mirchi powder,now slit the green chillies n add them too.Cook till the potato is cooked then add the tomatoes.Once the tomatoes are cooked,put raw mustard oil on the curry.Put the gas off,add the corriander leaves,n cover till you r ready to serve.
A very healthy,easy,comforting,less time consuming preparation.Can be eaten with rice n chappatis,even paratha n puri.Can b used as a soup too!
Lovely pics...my mom use to make ghee at home :)..
ReplyDeleteYou made ghee by yourself - yaay!! Definitely graduated to aunty-ji now, San ;)
ReplyDeleteWe had the leftover brown stuff ('ghasi' I think it was called) with hot rice and salt. So good!
wow - your own ghee. i'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I try not to use too much of it, but like it in tadkas. You've encouraged me to consider making my own.
Own ghee! Don't tempt me like this!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd hte leftovers :D - we add maida and sugar to it and roasted it until we figured it was time to eat it :D
Hi Sandeepa,
ReplyDeleteThe title got me into splits ....lol hmmm.. ghee and I have hello, hi-bye relation from quite sometime :) I avoid it almost completely in daily cooking n stuff....the only bottle of store brought ghee is used for bhagvan ka diya :) hmmmm...interesting to read how the residue is used up....I will have a detailed discussion on this with S :)and make him nostalgic.
S taught me to make aloo bhate/chokha :) this used to be a frequent dish those days when I was an L board in cooking ;) great nostalgia sandeepa.
Was reading shaggy's comment and got double nostalgic...coz that dish also was tutored to me by S :) it tastes amazing though.
Thanks for the videshi ghee making techqnique, for me to make it here...I'll have to fly to US to buy butter...fly back home and make it right :)? Videshi ghee!!! kidding;) love desi ghee for it's purity. Nice post as always.
Enjoy the week ahead.Happy ghee feeding to ur little one :)
TC
Homemade ghee, the auroma and the leftover milk solids all are heaven to me. I love it eat ghee plain, mixed with sugar or with sambar, tamarind kolumbu and what not ? This ghee looks eally glorious and golden and lucky little S :) We used to mix ragi flour in the kadai having the leftovers when its still hot (but stove switched off) and little sugar and fry for a minute and make into balls. Those were after treats after making ghee during childhood days! Lovely post Sandeepa!
ReplyDeleteyour post reminded me of hot alu, dim, dhoerosh sheddo fyana bhat with a hot pat of butter
ReplyDeleteI too have attained the 'auntyji' status quite a while ago :-)
ReplyDeleteHope the li'l ones are doing well :-)
Wish i'd read this before - i was actually trying to do it my grandmoms way - kind of painful. Will try it this way :)
ReplyDeleteWish i'd read this before - i was actually trying to do it my grandmoms way - kind of painful. Will try it this way :)
ReplyDeleteKay
ReplyDeleteWhy is it easier ? It definitely would taste better though
Priya
Really you want to be one , come on then :)
Saee
I guess *I arrived* pretty late :D
Shaggy
We do make a bati-chorchori and I love it but it is only with potatoes and green chilli & m. oil. Will try this one too. Thanks
Priti
Thanks
Vani
yehhhhh for me :) That jar is going to last real long
Maninas
I use ghee rarely too but add it to the baby's khichdi every day
A&N and Nirmala
I should have known this before :(
Suparna
Yeah we do not eat ghee either but sometimes I will add to the dish at the end, mainly it is for the little one. But my dad is a big proponent of goodness of Ghee
Knife
Yehhhhhhh right !!
Sunita,
Ok aunty-ji :D
Ricercar
This was super easy
are you having trouble with phulka? not sure exactly which one is called phulka, but i always had trouble with ruti, especially making it swell up like I'd seen it do elsewhere, but have managed it now. i use stone ground flour and lots of water and roast them on the frying pan. When they're almost cooked I put them on the gas for a bit like papor and the balloon!
ReplyDeleteRicercar
ReplyDeleteYes ruti, I just don't like making it because it takes me a whole lot of time. You know I have a N. Indian friend and rolling out phulkas/roti for her is as easy as making say alu seddho.
For me it is not that simple. Anyway I have got someone taking care of that and only D has roti anyway, I get done with bhaat and tortilla
absolutely right - bhaat is so much easier!
ReplyDeletecant remember if I did leave a comment about this or just thought about it in my head, but i was wondering if you would do one of your cool and easy versions of the traditional shorshe ilish recipe? i tried making it (andaj-e) with mustard powder, green chilli and salmon, but it just come out bitter!
Haven't done shorshe for while now. Use my bottle of kasundi to bake salmon on busy days.
ReplyDeleteBut I have a recipe here where ilish is with doi & shorshe while the other one is a shorshe fish the Oriya way. The oriya way has garlic with mustard and that would be good with salmon.
Try them
http://www.bongcookbook.com/2007/08/doi-ilish-and-machha-besara.html
OH nice! That milk solid state is a little tricky though, I have inevitably burnt them everytime I make it. I guess I need more practice.
ReplyDeleteLovely golden color on the ghee.
So we are aunty? Tell me what else if we make we would be graduated to granny... Haha I didn't post ghee, thank GOD 4 the interpretation!
ReplyDeleteCham
ReplyDeleteWith your gravatar, the profile pic, you are one Hot Aunty, if you are one :D I was just kidding about the "Auntyji" thing though.
I have been one for long though and even have comments where readers call me Aunty :)
I have always enjoyed visiting your blog but never left a comment before. The next time you make ghee add a few fenugreek seeds when the milk solids are a light brown, the aroma it releases is awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon, shall remember that
ReplyDeleteCrap!!! :( I thought you collected the cream every day and made your ghee. I get it... (telling myself:: Don't speed read blog posts!) sorry abt that.
ReplyDeleteSandeepa,
ReplyDeleteI am trying to make ghee with this way today following your instructions :)...back home I am habitual of collecting dudh'er shor for over a time and then making ghee out it, kinto eyikhane ki kori , tai tumaar way te try korlaam.used 250 gms of salted butter and some sticks of cinnamon for a nice aroma..thank you for sharing
hugs and smiles
Ghee, alu bhatay, deem sheddo and bhaat is my all time favorite. I mean I can kill for it! Of course I also bite off the tips of kancha lonka.
ReplyDeleteI have never tried making ghee at home, but when I was in Bangalore, I remember Lakshmi Amma adding a pinch of turmeric powder to get that golden color in the ghee. It always looked so beautiful on a sunny kitchen window!
Great!
ReplyDeleteDesi Ghee, Desi Ghee Manufacturers, Ghee Manufacturers India, Ghee Supplier, Ghee Industry, Desi Ghee Exporters
http://www.indiandairy.co.in/desighee.html
Hi just tried it this evening and I think the heat was too high. I managed to do it but the ghee is a bit dark but smells nice and nutty like brown butter!
ReplyDeleteI think the point at which you switched off the heat was where it went a bit wrong. If you do it too late, the milk solids burn and if too early then the ghee is not formed well. But you will learn and the first time is always a experience from where you learn something :-)
Delete