Indian Clarified Butter - The Types of Ghee BY Liz Canham

It's a well known fact that Indian clarified butter is used extensively in Indian cooking but
very few non-Indians know that there are various types of Ghee. Not only are there types
of ghee which come from the various animals i.e. sheep, goat, cow and buffalo but there
is also esi ghee, creamery butter, direct cream and pre-stratification.
!he difference between they types of ghee is simply the production process. "hereas
ghee is processed by machine and is not local to any particular area but is generally of
uniform #uality, esi ghee is usually made at home, albeit sometimes in nearly industrial
#uantities.
No matter what the process, the basic upshot is that because the butter or cream is
sub$ected to high temperatures, the moisture is removed. %larification usually takes place
at between &&' and &(')% except in *outhern India where the re#uired temperature is
between &(' and &+')%.
!he esi method of creating ghee involves boiling whole milk and fermenting it with a
culture which turns it into curdled milk or dahi. !he dahi is then churned with a
corrugated wooden beater. !he butter is separated and clarified into ghee by heating in
an open pan.
!he creamery butter and direct cream methods are better suited to commercial
manufacture because more fat is retained and the direct cream method results in ghee
which keeps better over time. !he pre-stratification method is thought to be economical
because of low fuel consumption and it too is thought to have a longer shelf life although
this method has not been tested on an industrial scale.
If you want to try the difference between the types of ghee by making your own, here are
two of the methods.
%reamery butter ghee,
*eparate milk and cream and allow the cream to curdle. %hurn the curdled cream and
you end up with buttermilk and creamery butter. -elt the creamery butter at a constant
temperature which results in molten ghee. .llow to stand for a while then decant into a
container, discard the ghee residue.
esi ghee,
/oil milk and allow to cool when lactic culture is added. .llow to ferment for &' to &0
hours until the milk has curdled and you have dahi. .dd a small amount of water and
churn1 this results in buttermilk and esi butter. -elt the esi butter, allow to stand,
decant and discard residue as before.
!hese are the two most common types of ghee preparation but of course the milk can
come from the animal of your choice.