Clarified Butter (or Ghee)

Why bother with clarified butter? One, because once the milk solids (the foam and the solids at the bottom of the pan) are removed you have butter with a much higher tolerance for heat—it won’t burn as easily as plain butter. Two, you get this nice clear butter flavor that is just decadent. If you want to toast nuts, seeds, spices, veggies, make curry, make dal, etc. this is what you want to use.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

Directions:

Place the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium low to medium heat. Just let it melt until it starts to foam-don’t stir. Skim the foam off with a spoon and discard (I use a small bowl for this). Slowly pour the clear butter into a heat proof bowl stopping just before you get to the white milk solids at the bottom of the pan (I like stainless, but whatever—just don’t use plastic or anything that will melt when hot liquid is poured in). Let the butter cool for a few minutes and pour into a glass jar.