HOW TO USE GHEE
Ghee really is the mother fat of India. It always tastes like home to me. Ghee is an incredible fat to use with complex spicing because of its soft and sweet nature. It is a very rich fat derived from cream or butter. The process of creating ghee means that much of its lactose is removed, and the ghee itself is able to withstand shelf life conditions, even in hotter climates. My ghee live sin my cupboard. In hot weather, it becomes liquid. In cold weather, it resolidifies. There is no effect upon the taste, and it will not go rancid. Ghee is also high in fat soluble vitamins and, in Ayurveda, is considered a Sattvic food - a promotes of constitutional balance for all body types. Ghee has a higher frying point than butter, but cannot withstand the same degree of high heat that can a vegetable or mustard oil. If I ever run out of ghee (has happened once or twice), then I use a 50-50 combination of olive oil and butter to mimic the sweet, rich, smooth and fatty quality of ghee.
GHEE AND SPICE:
All fats and oils work as filters on spices and produce, essentially magnifying certain aspects of flavour by virtue of their own composition. Ghee’s sweet, rich and creamy nature creates a very clear and “true” expression for classical Indian spice: it makes cumin seed more earthy, it reddens chilli, and tells the tale of pungency in ajwain, and rose-eucalypt in green cardamom.
Ghee is a “negotiator” in the pan: it will smooth out sharp points and difficult contrasts in complex spice blends, so I know that with ghee as a base I can build a very strong masala and still find a point of deliciousness in its end expression.
Ghee is a great addition to eggs in the morning. Frying eggs in ghee results in a more voluminous eggy flavour - the richness of the yolk is intensified, while the recessed sweetness of the white is drawn forward.
Ghee contributes a fudge quality to desserts where it is used in combination with olive oil or butter - consider substituting 50 percent of your fat in brownie batter with ghee for an extra delicious result.