Ghee

Ghee is butter that has been simmered until its water evaporates and its milk solids turn golden and are strained away. What remains is a clear fat with a toasted, nutty aroma and a smoke point well above butter, so it can fry whole spices without burning. It is known as ghee across North India, nei in Tamil and Malayalam, and neyyi in Telugu, and it belongs to our oils and ghee department.

This category has two parts. Pure ghee is made only from butter or cream, labelled pure butter ghee or cow ghee, and it is the one for dal, rice, rotis, halwa and ladoo. Vegetable ghee is a solid vegetable fat, sometimes called vanaspati or banaspati, used for frying and in bakery and sweets where a butter flavour is not essential.

Choose by flavour and use. Cow ghee is paler and milder; South Indian style ghee is often cooked darker for a stronger, almost caramel aroma. Jars and tins run from a small pot for the table to large tubs for families who cook with ghee daily. Amul, the Indian dairy co-operative, is one of the familiar names.

Ghee does not need refrigerating: kept sealed, away from heat and scooped with a dry spoon, it stays fresh for months. If it solidifies in winter, that is normal; if it smells sour or sharp, it has gone off.