Amul

Amul is a farmer owned dairy co-operative based in Anand, Gujarat, and its milk comes from a very large network of village dairy farmers across the state. The name is on butter, cheese and milk powder in most Indian homes, and its ghee is one of the most recognised tins in South Asian kitchens, in India and abroad.

From Amul we stock pure ghee, milk fat cooked until the water is driven off and the milk solids turn golden, then strained clear. The result is a shelf-stable fat that sets to a soft grain at room temperature and melts to liquid gold in the pan. It is a single, focused range, made the same way every time, which is the reason regular buyers tend to stick with it.

In Punjabi and Gujarati homes, ghee goes into dal tadka, jeera rice, sooji halwa and the folded layers of a paratha. South Indian cooks pour a spoonful over pongal and sambar rice, and ghee is the only fat for most sweets, from besan ladoo to Mysore pak and kesari. Because Amul ghee has a clean, mild dairy aroma, it suits sweets and savoury cooking equally well; cooks who want a stronger roasted note sometimes choose a South Indian style ghee such as GRB.

Ghee keeps for months at room temperature after opening as long as you always use a dry spoon, because water and crumbs are what turn it rancid. It firms up in winter and softens in summer, and neither changes the flavour. To compare Amul with other makers, see our full ghee range, or vegetable ghee for a plant-based frying fat.