Ghee is a useful type of highly flavored clarified butter. You can use it in French and fusion recipes, substituting 1/4 the amount of ghee for the amount of butter in some sauces, achieving great flavor without all the fat.
Basically what you’re doing here is boiling off the water in the butter, which causes that the protein to precipitate out. What you’re left with is more or less entirely saturated fat, and the lack of water and protien gives it a really high smoke point. You can actually fry things in ghee without setting your kitchen on fire. It’s cool.
To make ghee, put one pound of unsalted butter in a pot, and simmer it on low-medium heat without stirring for about 20 minutes. There will be foam that rises to the top, and then the butter will bubble and boil as the water content evaporate - when the solids at the bottom of the pot start to brown, remove the pot from the heat. The flavor of the browned bits in the bottom of the pan will permeate the butter, giving ghee its distinctive browned-butter taste! Make sure that the solids do not burn, but also make sure that they get browned. You have to walk a fine line, when making ghee. Strain the ghee through a fine strainer in to a one-pint Mason jar (canning jar that can withstand high heat), being careful not to burn yourself, and let it cool. When this clarified butter is cool, you can store it in the refrigerator. It keeps for a long, long time.
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