Pure Ghee

Pure ghee is clarified butter made entirely from milk fat, with no vegetable oil added. Packs may say pure butter ghee, cow ghee or simply pure ghee. The butter is simmered until the water cooks off and the milk solids brown, then strained, which gives the golden colour and the nutty smell that makes a dal tadka or a pan of sooji halwa taste right. In Tamil it is nei, and South Indian ghee is often cooked a little darker for a deeper aroma.

Use pure ghee for tempering whole spices, brushing hot rotis, layering parathas, roasting rava and besan for sweets, and finishing biryani and pongal. Cow ghee is paler and gentler in taste, while ghee cooked darker has a stronger, almost toffee like note. Jars suit a household that uses ghee now and then, and larger tins make sense for festival cooking. Natco and Patanjali are two of the names on our shelf.

Ghee keeps well without refrigeration: close the lid, keep it away from the hob, and always use a clean, dry spoon, since water or crumbs let mould take hold. For frying and bakery, see vegetable ghee, and for the full shelf, ghee in our oils and ghee department.