How to Make Desi Ghee at Home: A Sahaj Recipe
At Sahaj, while we have yet to begin supplying our products commercially to international markets, many friends from IIT and IIM who have experienced the richness of SahajBilona Cow Ghee keep asking me how they can recreate this “Desi Ghee” at home. So, I've decided to share this step-by-step recipe to help everyone make their own batch of pure, flavorful desi ghee. This method ensures the purity and quality of the final product is as good as the milk you use.
Ingredients:
- Malai (fat collected from boiled and cooled milk)
- Fresh curd
- Ice (if needed)
Equipment:
- Freezer
- Slow blender
- Warm place (oven)
- “Billoni” ladle or churner
- Vessel for heating ghee
- Double boiler setup (optional)
- 4-layered cotton cloth filter
- Storage vessel
Instructions:
Step 1: Malai Collection
Start by collecting the malai, the fat that floats on top of boiled and cooled milk. Store the malai in the freezer until you have around 1 kg.
Step 2: Thawing
Thaw the frozen malai by placing it in warm water until it reaches a temperature of around 40°C.
Step 3: Blending
Use a slow blender to blend the malai into a uniform texture.
Step 4: Curd Addition
Add a spoonful of fresh curd to the blended malai and place it in a warm location, such as an oven, to facilitate curd setting.
Step 5: Curd Setting in Warm and Dry Region
Check after 4-5 hours if the curd has set properly. We at Sahaj set curd at 42°C in our factory.
Step 6: Chilling
Once the curd is set, briefly chill it in the freezer until its temperature drops to 2-3°C. Your home freezer should maintain the same temperature (-18°C) as we use at a commercial scale.
Step 7: Churning
Using a traditional Billoni ladle or churner, churn the cold curd until butter starts to separate. Just this morning (2024), I received a WhatsApp message from a client asking, "How do you churn in the factory?" This is the butter churner we use.
Step 8: Butter Extraction
If necessary, add ice to aid in the extraction of butter. You'll get bright yellow butter from cow milk malai and white butter from buffalo milk malai.
Step 9: Ghee Preparation
Heat the butter in a vessel placed in a double boiler setup until it reaches 90-95°C.
Step 10: Temperature Control
Gradually increase the heat to bring the ghee's temperature to 105°C, taking care to avoid overheating. In the industry, we have access to steam heating, which prevents burning, so we directly heat the ghee in this vessel to 105°C. This is the most critical step. Undercooking results in “Kacha Ghee,” and overcooking gives a burnt flavor.
Step 11: Cooling
Allow the ghee to cool to around 60°C.
Step 12: Filtering
Slowly pour the cooled ghee through a 4-layered cotton cloth filter into a storage vessel, leaving behind any water at the bottom. In the industry, we use a high-speed centrifuge (ghee clarifier) to remove any water or other solids left in the cooked ghee.
Step 13: Storage
Let the filtered ghee rest at room temperature until it solidifies. Refrigerate for 1 hour to facilitate the separation of any remaining water.
Step 14: Final Product
The ghee filtered out in step 12 and the solid ghee from step 13 are both your pure homemade desi ghee, ready to enhance the flavor of your favorite dishes. Consume the solid ghee from step 13 first, as it might still have some traces of water and therefore a lower shelf life than the filtered, moisture-free ghee.
By following these steps, you can ensure that the ghee you make at home is pure, flavorful, and of the highest quality, just like the milk you used to create it. Enjoy the rich taste of homemade desi ghee in your meals!