Navratri Ghee & Oils

Most families who keep a Navratri vrat put the everyday vegetable and seed oils away and cook only with ghee or groundnut oil, which is why this shelf of our Navratri groceries sits beside the fasting staples. Ghee is butter simmered until the water cooks off and the milk solids turn golden, then strained to leave a clear, nutty fat that keeps well and takes a high heat. It goes into the tempering for jeera aloo, the pan for kuttu puris and the halwa served at kanya puja.

Cow ghee is clarified from the butter of cow's milk and is usually paler, with a gentle, sweet aroma. Butter ghee is named for the butter it is made from and many cooks find it fuller and nuttier in the pan. Both are made from dairy fat and nothing else, which is what matters on a vrat, and we carry them from well-known Indian and South Asian dairies in jars and tins. If your family keeps to cow ghee for bhog and puja cooking, read the pack for the milk source. The everyday range is also on our pure ghee shelf.

Groundnut oil, moongphali ka tel or kadalai ennai, is pressed from peanuts and is the oil most fasting households use for deep frying. Its mild taste lets sabudana vada, potato chips and farali puris come out crisp without tasting of the oil. Season the pan from Navratri vrat spices and keep the vrat staples and flours close by. Lamp ghee for diyas is made for burning and is not for eating, so it lives apart in Navratri puja essentials.

Ghee keeps for months in a cool cupboard as long as no water gets into the jar, so always use a dry spoon. It sets grainy in a cold kitchen and melts clear again in a warm pan, which is quite normal. Keep groundnut oil away from the hob and from sunlight, and close the cap after each use so it stays fresh through the festival.