GHEE, Everything you need to know, doubts and best available brands.

The aim of this article is to provide you with enough information about ghee and its process of making so that you can chose the best version of it for yourself. We will also try to answer few common questions related to ghee. Also, we will take a look at few of the best brands (in our opinion) available to purchase ghee. So, let’s begin with some general knowledge of ghee first.

Disclaimer: This article or any part is not sponsored by any brands. The brand recommendations are purely based on my research about the brands and my opinion

What is ghee?

Ghee is a dairy product which contains only ‘fat’ as other things are separated out in the process of making. Ghee is ‘essentially’ ‘clarified butter’. Notice the word ‘essentially’ because it is little different than only clarified butter. Technically clarification process gets over as soon as the water evaporates, and the fat gets separated. But to produce ghee you need to simmer the butter for some time. This process gives ghee its flavour, aroma, and texture.

Who invented ghee?

Ghee was prepared first in India many thousand years ago.

Uses of ghee

Ghee has traditionally been integral part of Indian culture, be it cooking daily food, variety of snacks and sweets. Ghee is also used in many religious rituals as it is considered sacred. Uses of ghee doesn’t stop here, Ghee, in ayurveda is hold in high regards, it is said to have many medicinal properties, so it is not only used alone as medicine but also used in combination with multiple herbs to increase their potency.

Since we have got a little bit idea about ghee, now let’s get some of the common questions answered.

Is Ghee better than butter and why?

Yes, ghee is better than butter. Many consider ghee’s taste aroma and texture much better than butter but aside from the personal opinions the hard facts are that ghee has none to negligible traces of lactose or milk solids and therefore suitable for people who has dairy intolerance. Also, it’s high smoke point makes it suitable for most cooking methods.

Ghee is a rich source of vitamins, antioxidants, and healthy fats and it is anti-inflammatory in nature plus its near perfect taste makes it a great choice to add in your daily routine.

Will ghee make you gain weight?

Like anything else that is edible, ghee too CAN make you gain weight if you are not using it in moderation. Although its moderate use can help you reduce weight with numerous other health benefits, but if you go overboard with its use, it will not help you and being rich in calories can easily make you gain weight.

Remember anything good in excess is not good.

Can ghee increase cholesterol?

This is a popular misconception that ghee increases bad cholesterol. It does not. Ghee was considered the element responsible for increasing coronary artery disease (CAD) in Asian India. On the contrary, new research shows that moderate consumption of ghee can actually decrease cholesterol levels. A study done on rural population of India where people consume relatively more ghee shows significantly lower prevalence of coronary heart disease. So NO, ghee does not increase your cholesterol and is not linked to heart diseases so far. But remember this does not give you free pass to indulge in ghee. Always remember moderation is the key and anything good in excess is bad.

Can ghee go bad?

This is another popular doubt. Many believes that ghee does not expire, whereas so many other thinks that like anything else ghee also have a shelf life. Both of them are true. Actually, this doubt comes from the ‘old ghee’ in Ayurvedic shops which claims to be 1 to 10 years old.

The truth is that if ghee is prepared well meaning if it does not have any milk solid and moisturiser remain in at the time of preparation and stored well in an airtight container of iron or steel and in a dark place then it will not go bad for years. Old ghee has even a lot more medicinal property than ordinary ghee according to ayurveda.

But for day-to-day use, since we need to open it and close it multiple times we should wait to see if ghee goes bad. It generally lasts from 9 months to a year. If used well and kept well it can last even longer than that.

Why ghee is good for your health?

We have already discussed it a little. Ghee is rich in vitamins and antioxidants, it is anti-inflammatory. It is good for your heart and can aid weight loss when used in moderation. Ayurveda says that ghee is the best oil (rough translation from the Sanskrit word ‘Sneh’) and healthiest source of edible fat. It is said to pacify vata and pitta doshas and at the same time aid digestion and hunger. It nourished all the tissues of your body and also very good for your eyes.

All in all if you are a foodie and doesn’t give a damn about health you can add ghee for its taste, and if you are someone who love to take care of your health (ideally you should) you can add ghee in your daily routine for its health benefits.

Will ghee break your fast?

Well, it depends on what you are fasting for. If you are observing a water only fast, then ghee will certainly break your fast. If your want to cut calories completely in your fasting period, then also ghee will break your fast.

However, if you are generally fasting with no special intent and purpose, you can take a little amount of ghee. Although it has calories and it will raise your blood sugar levels eventually but since it is pure fat and has a very low glycaemic index, it tends to do so very gradually. So your fast will not face a severe impact.

Now since we have got some basic questions answered, and now we know adding ghee in our daily diet has numerous benefits, let’s get to know the best brands available to buy ghee. But we will do that along with knowing the methods of preparation of ghee as that’s where the real difference lies-

How ghee is prepared –

As we know that ghee is a dairy product, so a lot is dependent on the source of the milk. Let’s categorise the milk into two categories.

Milk that we get from farms where cows are treated as objects of milk producing machine. Where they are kept pregnant and injected with antibiotics and growth hormones and fed unnatural diets to produce more milk. Let’s call it ‘commercial dairy’. This kind of milk has traces of antibiotics and growth hormones not to mention that cows there are stressed and often time in pain and that energy passes on to their milk as well.
Second type of milk will be from the farms or homes (if you are in India) where cows are left freely to graze green grass. They are treated well like a living being. They are not injected with harmful chemicals, and They are allowed to feed their calves first and the leftover is taken for the human consumption, lets call it ‘organic dairy’ for simplification

Which milk do you think will have better quality? It is no brainer, of course it will be the second type the organic one.

Now there is another very important point to remember, that there are two types of cows too, one is age old indigenous cows. Another one is recent phenomena; these are genetically modified cows more commonly known as ‘jersey cows’ that gives a lot more milk than an average indigenous cow. But the problem with jersey cows is that the milk they produce have A1 protein whereas indigenous cows’ milk has A2 protein. A1 protein is not easily digestible for many. In fact, so many people who think that they are lactose intolerant (a condition where milk is not easily digestible because of the sugar naturally present in the milk i.e., lactose) are not lactose intolerant but they are not able to handle A1 protein present in the milk.

You must have heard of A2 milk. It simply means that the protein present in that milk is A2 and it inherently means that it is coming from indigenous cows.

Based on the quality of milk, quality of ghee will also vary since milk is the raw material for ghee. So, your ideal bet for the milk is A2 (indigenous cows), grass fed and organic.

Coming to preparation of ghee. There are two methods of preparing ghee –

Traditional method also known as Bilona or Vedic Bilona method.
Commercial and the popular methods

Bilona Method –

Bilona method is ancient Indian method to obtain ghee from milk. In this process first you need to boil the milk and cool it down. Then you need to culture the milk by adding a spoonful of curd. You can leave it for approximately 24 hours then the whole milk will be turned into curd. Then the curd is churned, and butter is extracted from it. The leftover from this process is called ‘Chhanchh (butter milk)’. Extracted butter is the heated up to evaporate the water and what left is ghee. This process is very elaborated and usually performed with hands and that is why it takes so much time. What makes it even more elaborate is that curd needs to be prepared in earthen pot and churned using a wooden churner (aka Bilona hence the name). So, ghee prepared from this method are usually a lot costlier than the other commercial ones but at the same time it is easily digestible and a lot tastier, healthier and aromatic.

Commercial Method-

There are multiple methods of preparing ghee commercially, but they are inherently same and essentially follow same process. It includes following process

Pasteurizing the raw milk
Obtaining cream from the pasteurized milk by the cream separator (essentially rotating the milk at a very high speed so cream gets separated from the rest of the milk)
Pasteurizing the obtained cream
Making butter using the cream
Melting the butter shifting it to boiler where it is boiled till ghee is made.
Obtaining the pure and cleaned ghee using a ghee clarifier.

How to make ghee at home-

You can make ghee by using the bilona method. It is essentially the method designed for making ghee at home. You can also buy unsalted butter and heat it up till ghee is obtained or you can collect cream (commonly known as malai in India) after boiling and cooling the milk down and heat that up to obtain ghee but bilona method is recommended if you want to make ghee at home.

Best brands for ghee

So now we know all about preparation of ghee, hence we know that the best brands for ghee will be determined by following factors –

Source of their milk (indigenous cow vs jersey cows and their treatment)
Method of preparation.

Your ideal bet is going to be free grazing, grass fed indigenous cows’ milk as source and ghee prepared by bilona method. While buying ghee you should always check breed of the cow, and method of the preparation. Many brands now a days mentions how they treat their cows which helps us as customer to make a better choice. We do not recommend that you buy any brands that is not sourced from indigenous cows and not prepared through bilona method or hide any such information from the consumers. If you will apply these criteria many popular brands will be out of questions e.g., Patanjali, Amul, Ashirvad, Nestle etc. While there are some popular brands that claim to be organic like akshaykalpa, kapiva, organic India while they are little better that their cows are no injected with growth hormones and not fed with antibiotics, they are neither sourced from indigenous cows nor prepared from bilona method hence we do not recommend them as well.

We researched few brands for you. Let’s see the brands that we recommend

All the brands that we are recommending here, have A2 cow milk as source, clearly mentions the breed of the cow and prepare ghee from authentic Bilona method. They also treat their cows well which certainly increases quality of milk and in return the quality of ghee as well.