What is ghee?

Ghee, what is ghee, purepunjabi.co.uk

What is Ghee?

Ghee is the Punjabi and Hindi word for clarified butter. It is butter that has been gently brought up to a simmer.  This causes the butter to separate into different layers, allowing you to remove the impurities that will burn if butter is used in cooking. This means that ghee can be cooked at really high temperatures without burning. It can go to such high temperatures that street food vendors in India will often deep fat fry in ghee, rather than oil, to give the food a buttery taste, whilst deep fat frying (it’s smoke point is at around 250 degrees celsius).

 

Where can I find Ghee?

It’s really easy to get hold of Ghee in supermarkets, you can find it in the world food aisle.  Alternatively, you can make your own at home.  It’s easier to do than you might think.  Plus if you are intolerant to cows milk, you can make your own Ghee from goat’s butter, buffalo’s butter, or sheep’s butter.  I am actually allergic to cows milk so we make our own ghee at home from goats butter so that I can enjoy cooking with ghee and the delicious taste it adds to particular dishes, just like everybody else.

In terms of storage, treat ghee in the same way you would treat butter.  It should keep for many months, provided it has not been contaminated with the other ingredients, so just make sure you use clean utensils when serving ghee out of the container.

Whenever we are cooking, we always look at how long an ingredient has been around for/used in cookery, thus meaning it has stood the test of time.  Ghee has been around for centuries and therefore we know that it works well from a taste perspective, from a ‘safe food preservation method’ perspective, as well as knowing that it is a completely natural and traditional product that is free from any additives or ‘nasties’.

 

Isn’t Ghee more fattening?

Gram for gram, fats contain the same level of fats. So whether you are using Ghee or a different fat source (i.e. sunflower oil) there is no difference in the fat level present from one to the other.

So next time you have a surplus of butter, why not give ghee-making a try!

 

We have a step-by-step pictorial on how to make ghee -(video coming soon).

How to make ghee

 

 

Ghee is used to shallow fry Paratha.  Take a look at our ‘how to make Paratha’ post:

A step-by-step guide: How to make paratha from scratch


Customer Reviews

Indian Meal kits, Dinner Kits & Gift Boxes

Customer Reviews

Karen Taylor October 2018

We are having such fun cooking from The Spice Pack Collection and all the dishes have come out brilliantly. The smell is divine and Rob, who is very fussy, is particularly impressed. All our visitors are wowed when they smell the box – we’ve been too possessive to share any with others, as yet!

As a natural therapist I particularly appreciate the healthy aspect of each dish, none of which compromise on taste. Good ingredients freshly cooked makes a big difference.

We’re going on holiday with three other couples in a couple of weeks and going to take the pack with us to cook some dishes together.

Maria M / BBQ Meal Kit Box customer

“We had a BBQ for family and friends few weeks ago and we made the Lamb Kebabs & Coconut & Sesame Chutney and Crushed Tikka New Potatoes & Mango Chicken… We received such rave reviews!! All so easy to make with the spices and sauces all provided for us…food was all delicious!”

Chris & Debs - dinner kit with cook-along customer

“That was so fun…

Thank you for the zoom meet up. That was so fun. We will definitely be up for another. Please send another suitable invite and kit. We are predominately veggies so used the butternut squash version. If this continue the local takeaway will suffer for sure. Again thanks”.

Carol R. dinner kit with cook-along customer

“What a wonderful cookalong…

…The Mango Chicken was delicious and my naan bread actually looked amazing – like the real thing. I feel so successful. Thank you. Looking forward to our next cookalong”.

Pam Brown – dinner kit with cook-along customer

“Thank you so much both…

– the class was amazing and we both really enjoyed the food. It makes so much difference knowing exactly how to do things and that we can make such tasty food which is gluten free. Jeera rice has always been my favourite but many restaurants don’t have it on the menu”.

Sylvia M – dinner kit with cook-along customer

“Thank you so much...
... for a great hour of cooking on Saturday evening. I enjoyed it very much as I have never done anything like it before. The Punjabi chicken was delicious and we had enough to freeze for another time”.

Sue W – dinner kit with cook-along customer

“Well that was amazing…
... the best curry I've ever had and Jxx said it was like being in India ( as he’s spent so much time there with work ) loved the class and so did Exxx looking forward to coming to your workshops…
…and will order some more kits from your website”

Roy P…dinner kit with cook-along customer

“Many thanks…
...for the cook–along workshop yesterday. It was very enjoyable and the meal tasted lovely. As someone who is not a confident cook it was ideal to follow your teaching. I have recommended this to a friend of mine who is very interested in joining the next cook–along. I will definitely be doing it again”.

Ellie Pipe

I highly recommend this lovely family run local company…

... We’ve enjoyed 2 of their meal kits now along with an online cook along to show us what to do. Thank you.

Diane McGillivray

I love them all and would highly recommend…

...If I had to choose one it would be the Mango chicken.
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