A good friend once said, "Ghee is Love." & Indira at Mahanandi says, "All auspicious occasions in life start with ghee in India. Be it an offering to God, or the babies first solid food - people lavish their love with ghee." Making ghee can be done as a sadhana.
Ghee is made from unsalted butter, slowly heated to separate the lactose, milk solids from the butter fat and strained through a cloth.
After making my first really good batch of ghee I'm beginning to understand the Love statement. This is the first batch I've made at the new house - this is important as the stove top is not gas but - gasp - electric! I was quite timid looking at those scary numbers on the little knob; 1 - 6, mmm, I chose 4 - then literally said a prayer, the mahamrtunjaya mantra. & as I placed each stick of butter in to the stainless steel copper bottomed pan I held it in my hands, said 'thanks' to the sweet cow & chanted om. I cooked it for twice as long as anyone else would tell you & that hour hour was a long one. The children were set up with an activity in order to keep harassment at a minimum & I breathed deeply & chanted throughout. Sounds dramatic but it is really important to me to get this exactly right as the benefits of ghee for the family are extreme.
It is said that ghee enhances intelligence, understanding, memory and ojas or "life energy." My very general understanding is that digestive enzymes are fat-soluble & their precursor is fat. This means that ghee stimulates food to be broken down & is easily absorbed by the body thus obtaining all of the foods goodness.
Here is a photo taken outside to show you the colour you need to aim for - please don't carry your hot ghee around the backyard, it's stupid & dangerous!
"For centuries, ghee has been considered a rasayana, which means a healing food that balances both body and mind," says Shubhra Krishan, author of Essential Ayurveda (New World Library, 2003).
Ayurvedic practitioners often use ghee as a base in their herbal formulations. For example, the preparation pancha pikta ghrita combines five bitter herbs with ghee in order to quickly and evenly deliver herbal healing deep into the body's lipid-based cell walls. Ghee can help protect those cells as well. Two of its ingredients--vitamin E and beta-carotene--are known antioxidants, so it can be categorized as a free-radical fighter.
The following extract is from Ancient Organics;
"Making ghee is a sadhana to induce a sattvic mind."
-Maya Tiwari
The Ghee we make changes slightly as the seasons and the diet of the cows change. For instance, in winter, there are many days that the cows are not able to graze in the pastures and there is more silage in their diet. During this time, the butter and the ghee is less yellow. You can tell by the color of our ghee and by Straus butter that these cows are eating fresh grass. It is the result of beta carotene in the grass- this is whay many butters are artificially colored. There was a memory amongst the earlier generations that yellow color in the butter meant a good diet for the cows and a high nutritional quality.
We have found the making of Ghee to be a very beautiful and peaceful experience. The beautiful sound of the mantra in the space. The sound of softly boiling butter, the pouring of the thick liquid into bottles. The wonderful smell Ghee has as it permeates the room.
Ghee Recipe
Preparation Time: 1-2 hours
(This recipe makes enough ghee to store and use for some time)
Ingredients -
5-6 sticks of unsalted organic butter
Remove the butter from the packaging and place in a heavy bottomed, large pot on medium heat. Once all the butter is melted, lower the heat to as low as it will go and let simmer uncovered. As the butter is simmering some of the milk solids will rise to the top. Keep simmering the butter checking on it every now and then to make sure it is not burning. You will know the ghee is ready when it turns a clear golden colour. It is not ready if you put in a spoon to the bottom, scoop some up & it still has a greenish tinge. When golden & clear remove from heat and allow to cool for a while in the pot. Then strain through a thin cotton cloth to remove solids. Be very careful during this process as the ghee is still very, very hot. I like to strain the ghee into a stainless steel container with a tight lid for storage. Ghee will keep for a few months in a cool dry environment. Make sure to use a clean, dry spoon when taking ghee to use from your storage container.
As a sweet treat, collect the solids in a small bowl & mix these with sustainable coconut palm sugar. Most children Love it!
The colour 24 hours later, the ghee has set & is ready to use.
