Preparation of the Natural Ghee at Home for Healthy Living

Ghee or butter oil is the fuel for rituals. Whether it is for offering to the divine fire as well as for preparing food offerings to gods and also for preparing high-quality sweets and food products. It is the most top-ranking among natural fuels. Not only it is one of the richest ingredients for food. High energy foods are prepared by using ghee. Furthermore, it is used for preparing medicine, especially the ayurvedic medicine.

Natural ghee is also a purifier. Owing to this quality of the ghee, it is used for cleansing the food materials before serving. Thus it is referred to as complete purifier, Anu Shuddhi. In many rural households, people are preparing ghee at home. But still, there are many more who don't know how to make it. Cows ghee is the foremost among the natural fats and therefore, let us look into the process of preparation of this on small scale at home.

The time required: 4 days.

Pure milk from the cow

• The milk obtained from the cow is filtered by using a sieve to keep out any dirt if present.
• Then some 5% of water is added for or easy creaming while boiling. Addition of water decreases the boiling temperature of the milk. If more water is added pasteurization will not be perfect.
• While boiling it is slowly stirred for frothing and separation of added water by vaporization.
• Pasteurization has to be completed at the earliest without allowing any changes to happen in the milk.
• Boil at 120-degree Celcius for a little more so that pasteurization is foolproof and the cream yield will be enhanced.
• Set aside for a few minutes so that the entire cream comes to the top surface of the cooling milk.
• No need to make it cold let it be warmer.
• Milk when comes to about 60-degree centigrade it is ideal for making curds.

Extraction of butter by making curds and buttermilk

• A curdling starter can be obtained from the home itself or it can be purchased from the market. A good card starter is essential.
• For the preparation of curds about 5 ml of curd starter per litre of milk.
• For good curd setting, milk added with starter has to be kept undisturbed for at least 6 hours at 25° Celcius
• for separation of butter from the curds, the curd needs to be well for 15 minutes by this time the butter starts aggregating and starts floating on the buttermilk.
• Curd churning for centrifugal separation of the butter.
• traditional churning of the curds is a clockwise and anticlockwise moment of the curd churner.
• In the floating water is accumulated by hand and made into a mass.
• It will be floating on the buttermilk and will be allowed to remain so for one more day.
• Alternatively, people use to collect the butter and put it in butter tray and keep it inside the chiller in the refrigerator.
• Likewise, butter is collected for 3 to 4 days and by then it gets seasoned and is m n able to form a ball by hand.

Process of making ghee from butter

• Washing the butter to remove the content of the buttermilk.
• It is washed by hand with pure water 3 to 4 times to remove all milky coloured buttermilk material from it.
• Then this is put on the stove for boiling in a high flame and subsequently on a low flame.
• Boiling to make ghee more and more transparent translucent condition.
• And the water content is completely vaporized and starts emanating aroma and becomes slightly golden yellow in colour is time to check it for completion.
• The best ghee preparation method is by looking for slight aggregation of residue in the bottom of the pan.
• It can be made out from the boiling sound that the water content is completely vaporized out and the bottom residue is starting to turn dark brown at this stage the ghee will be very clear and it is ready for putting it down from the flame.
• Filtering the ghee in a muslin cloth to remove any residue getting into the container.
• Storage of cooled down ghee is done inside airtight glass containers, free from moisture and free from an accidental entry of any ants or some other insects.
• If you keep the ghee for more than a month it starts becoming rancid.
• There are some methods for re-purification of rancid ghee. But however instead of re-purification methods, always good to use fresh ghee.

For skin treatments and ayurvedic purposes, aged ghee is preferred and however, these methods are different from case to case and have to be done in consultation with experts.

Ageing of ghee

• One-year-old ghee is called as Anu Shuddhi and it has special value in ayurvedic treatments.
• It is told, for any edible raw material, if you put some ghee and sugar, it will be a top-quality sweet item. The secret of the success of sweet remains in the ghee.
• The traditional belief is that ghee is cool for the body and it cleanses toxins. Therefore it is used in concoctions like Panchagavya.
• Three-month-old or older ghee, kept in airtight containers is good for giving massage to young kids.
• Lighting a small divine lamp with ghee can purify the atmosphere inside the house.
• offering the Gita the holy fire cleans the surrounding atmosphere tune of tons of atmospheric air.
• Ghee is the best conditioner for human skin and hair.
• Even having a teaspoon of ghee orally can be refined the entire body.
• For those who feel sleepless, rubbing ghee to the head and leaving it for an hour and taking a normal bath could help to have sound sleep.

There are many more uses of the ghee indigenous traditional knowledge. Therefore a good knowledge of preparation of good quality ghee is worth for healthy living.