Ghee Benefits

Can’t get enough of butter? Ghee, a clarified butter, may peak your interest. Used traditionally in South Asian cuisine, ghee is known not only for its good taste but for its multitude of health benefits. When the water and milk solids are removed from butter, ghee is what remains. To make ghee, unsalted butter is melted and separates into three layers. The top layer is water, which evaporates as the butter is melted. The milk solids make the bottom layer, which is removed, leaving the golden middle butterfat layer, also known as ghee.¹ Ghee is a Sanskrit word and means “sprinkled.”²

The History of Ghee

ⁱIt is believed that butter was most likely created by accident. When humans became pastoralists, as well as hunters and gatherers, dairy was added to our diet. If a bag of milk was carried around in the heat, before long it would have ceased to be milk and would have turned into butter.³ However, without refrigeration, butter cannot last particularly long. Ghee was created in northeast India between 1800 – 2000 BCE, possibly due to the need to travel with butter long distances on trading routes.⁴

In addition to being a shelf stable alternative to butter, ghee has religious importance in Indian culture. In the Vedas, which are ancient scriptures, its use is mentioned in the yogic diet and cleansing practices. Ghee is also seen as the essence of milk, which is important because the cow is the most sacred animal in Hinduism. During yogic practices, ghee lamps are used to honor the gods and to represent burning away illnesses.⁵

While ghee has recently become trendy in the United States due to the Paleo diet’s focus on high-fat foods, ghee and clarified butter arrived in the U.S. well before. One of the earliest mentions of ghee in U.S. literature was in 1831 in one of Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories. Many cookbooks from the 1800s called for clarified butter in their recipes. In the early 1900s, Indian immigrants also brought foods, such as ghee, to the U.S.⁶

Benefits of Ghee

Ghee has numerous health benefits. First, it contains vitamins A, D, E, and K, which promote bone and brain health and boost the immune system. Ghee also converts fiber into butyric acid, which helps keep the digestive tract healthy.⁷ Another benefit is that it can lower cholesterol by inducing the secretion of biliary lipids.⁸ If prepared from grass-fed cows, ghee has one of the highest contents of conjugated linoleic acid, which has been shown to be integral in fighting cancer in animal studies.⁹ Externally, ghee is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat burns and blisters and to soothe irritated skin.¹⁰

Interestingly, people who are lactose intolerant generally have no issues when eating ghee. This is because when the milk solids are removed to make ghee, all of the milk proteins, casein, whey, and milk sugar lactose that affect lactose intolerant people are also removed.¹¹ In the kitchen, ghee is also useful because it has a high smoking point at 485 degrees Fahrenheit. This is about 150 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the smoking point of butter. Ghee’s high smoking point makes it ideal for pan searing meat.¹²

How to Make Ghee

Store-bought ghee can be expensive, but luckily making your own ghee is simple. The main supplies you need are unsalted butter and cheesecloth or food grade muslin.¹³ Directions:

1. Heat butter on medium heat in a stainless steel saucepan or enameled Dutch oven.
2. Cook until the butter is fully melted and begins to foam. Skim the foam off of the top as it forms. You can use a flat ladle with holes for this job.
3. After most of the form is removed, reduce the heat to low. As the water evaporates, the butter will turn cloudy and then milk solids will start to sink to the bottom.
4. The ghee is finished when the ghee oil is clear and a golden-yellow color and the milk solids on the bottom turn a light brown color. Remove the pan from the heat.
5. Lay several pieces of cheesecloth or muslin over a wire mesh strainer and position the strainer over a bowl. Pour the ghee through the cheesecloth to remove the milk solids.
6. Let the ghee cool for a little in the bowl and then pour it into a glass jar. No refrigeration necessary!¹⁴

If stored in an airtight container, ghee can last for up to three months.¹⁵