@AntoniaJames... Never occurred to me to use the ghee solids for a sweet prep.. Love this idea, Have to try this the next time! Thanks!
The flavors of the ghee also depended on the kind of milk the butter came from. Milk from water buffaloes (which is readily available in India, in fact more than Cows milk in some states, The Fat content tends to be higher in it... ) yields butter that is almost snow white. and the flavor is slightly different than butter from Cows milk.
I hope we haven't digressed too much from the original topic, rambling away about the nuances of ghee!
I toss a few apples, sliced, into the browned butter solids with a pinch of whatever spice suits my fancy at the moment, then cook it gently to soften the apple, and let it sit for a few minutes to allow the juices to release from the apple, to make a nice little treat for stirring into plain yogurt. I agree that making your own ghee, and cooking it to a browner state, gives whatever dish you're using the ghee in much more depth of flavor. ;o)
there are a set of spices that generally are added to ghee to add fascinating dimensions to the flavor, as Pauljoseph sez, cloves, my mother would add a whole sprig of curry leaves or a betel pepper leaf (paan), the fragrance is simply amazing!
Most purist home cooks would NOT use the store bought ghee unless they needed large quantities of it. it was always the churned butter from the day's supply of milk & yogurt--refrigerated until there was a significant amount & then rinsed off thoroughly to get rid of any clinging bits of buttermilk and then cooked in a pan.
The browned milk solids were not wasted either. In the same pan with the browned solids clinging to it, add some tamarind extract, some rasam spices , a couple of chopped tomatoes, salt, turmeric, a pinch of asafetida, chopped cilantro and about 2 + cups of water, boil to make some fabulously fragrant rasam soup.
I seldom refrigerate ghee, & when I do it its only to keep it solid to be scooped out with ease, The trick is to heat the butter till the milk solids turn brown, the color will darken to a beige rather than the butter yellow color that the store bought ghee has..
We have a passionate and experienced Indian cook on staff in the form of store owner Nach Waxman, who says, "Really well-made ghee, in which all the water has been removed, can spend a couple of weeks unrefrigerated. Longer than that and I would use the refrigerator."
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The flavors of the ghee also depended on the kind of milk the butter came from. Milk from water buffaloes (which is readily available in India, in fact more than Cows milk in some states, The Fat content tends to be higher in it... ) yields butter that is almost snow white. and the flavor is slightly different than butter from Cows milk.
I hope we haven't digressed too much from the original topic, rambling away about the nuances of ghee!
Most purist home cooks would NOT use the store bought ghee unless they needed large quantities of it. it was always the churned butter from the day's supply of milk & yogurt--refrigerated until there was a significant amount & then rinsed off thoroughly to get rid of any clinging bits of buttermilk and then cooked in a pan.
The browned milk solids were not wasted either. In the same pan with the browned solids clinging to it, add some tamarind extract, some rasam spices , a couple of chopped tomatoes, salt, turmeric, a pinch of asafetida, chopped cilantro and about 2 + cups of water, boil to make some fabulously fragrant rasam soup.