Homemade Ghee

Ghee also known as clarified butter is made by boiling butter and removing the residue. It has a long shelf-life if kept in an airtight container. The texture, color and taste of ghee depend on the quality of the butter used. As mentioned in an earlier post of Homemade Butter , I make butter at home. Some of it I keep for daily usage, and the rest is used up to make ghee as it is widely used in Pakistani cuisine.

Method:

1) Take 500 gm of unsalted butter and put it in a heavy bottomed medium sized pan.

2) Place the pot on medium heat and let the butter melt, turn down the heat to low, make sure to let the butter simmer gently.  Remember to stir it every once in a while.

3) First you will see the boiling butter will foam to the top, and then gradually the milk solids settles at the bottom, the foam subsides and the clear transparent ghee will start to float on top. This will take about 30 minutes.

4) Once the ghee is ready, turn off the flame. Let it cool down then strain it into a clean dry container. 

Homemade Butter

My bibi je (my grandmother), my ami and all other females in our family always made butter at home, following the tradition I do the same. Since we get fresh milk every day, I get a chance to store clotted cream daily, clotted cream (also know as malai in urdu) is made by slowly heating milk for about an hour and a half until it a thick layer of cream is formed. What I do is just leave the milk as it is until it gets cold, then I transfer it to fridge, and the next morning, I takes all the clotted cream off and store it in a container, after 6-7 days I get enough clotted cream to make butter as well as ghee, so here’s how we make it…

1) All you need is 2 to 3 cups of cream,  what you do is add  two tablespoon of yogurt to clotted cream (you can also use heavy cream) stir  it , cover it and then let it sit at room temperature for almost 12 hours. 

2) The next day when you are ready to make butter, add 1 cup of cream at one time with 1&1/2 to 2 cups of water in a blender (use cold water during summer, and luke warm water during winter). In the beginning the cream will begun to smoothen and you will get smooth whipped cream. 

3) Continue to blend until you see buttermilk and the thick butter getting separated. You will see lumps of butter floating in the buttermilk. 

4) Turn off the blender,  with the help of slotted spoon take out all the butter in to a bowl. pour the buttermilk in a jug for latter use, now add the 2nd cup of cream along with water and follow the same procedure.

5) Once you are done with making butter, run your hands under cold water, Form the butter into a ball, press the ball to squeeze out any excess buttermilk then squeeze the butter together, (or you can also do it with the back of a spoon). 

6) Place the bowl in the sink, rinse the butter in cold water, and squeeze it again. Repeat this process until the water runs clear and the butter does not release any liquid when you press on it, that’s it, home made butter is ready, you can keep it in the refrigerator for a week.

Note: Don’t discard the buttermilk, you can use it for baking, or add it to mashed potatoes as a substitute to milk. You can also" lassi" with it, a typical Pakistani drink served with breakfast or lunch. it's very simple to make and is very good for the digestive system too, just add a pinch of salt to one glass of butter milk(or a tsp of sugar for the sweet lassi) whisk it or blend it in a blender to get a slight froth. That’s it, pour it in to the glass and enjoy this refreshing drink.

Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt is one of the most eatable things in every corner of the world, its cold-effects reduce the effect of heat in summers, especially in Pakistan, “lasi” is made with yogurt to kill the summer heat. I have always seen all the women in my family making yogurt at home, and I follow their footsteps. Its only very rare that we use a store bought yogurt…. 

Ingredients:

1 liter Milk 

1/2 to 1 tsp curd (yogurt with active cultures)


Method:

Bring Milk to a boil on the stovetop. Use preferably whole milk to get a thick consistency of the yogurt. Allow Milk to cool to slightly warmer than Luke warm, if you use to hot milk it will kill the bacteria’s in culture and your yogurt won’t set or will be too sour. Transfer the milk to the container with a tight fitting lid, add the starter yogurt to the milk and stir it (you can also whisk it to get a slight froth). Cover the container with a kitchen towel and leave it to set for 5-6 hours preferable in a warm place such as a cupboard or oven. After 5-6 hours take it out and check it. If you feel its set place it in the fridge for 2 – 3 hours before using it. 

Tips: If weather is too cool especially in winters cover the bowl with some woolen cloth for better results. In summers it takes less time to get done. If a thicker consistency is preferred, strain the yogurt through muslin in a sieve, it will be more like Greek yogurt. If you want a creamier texture then let the milk simmers for 10-20 minutes. If you don’t have curd at home to use as starter then use the dry starter you can buy ( not available in Pakistan though) Package will tell you how much dry starter to use. Don’t follow the other directions from the dry starter package

Home Made Khoya

Khoya is an essential ingredient while making sweets (mithayian) in Pakistan and India, among them is burfi, a treat similar to fudge. It is also added to halwas such as “Gajar ka halwa” or “Pumpkin halwa” and gives an extra rich flavor to it. Khoya is basically concentrated whole milk and has a slightly oily texture to it. Making Khoya at home is a tedious job but it is economical, as well as you know what you are putting in it, and believe me all the effort you put in is worth the end result you get....

Ingredients:

2 liters full fat milk

Method:

Take a heavy based pan or a non stick pan (as the non stick pan will avoid the milk from getting burnt), add the milk in and bring it to a boil then reduce the heat to medium and let the milk simmer until it reduces to half (it will take around an hour), do remember to stir every now and then. Let it simmer for another 30 minutes, once the milk starts to thicken up (the consistency of almost like condensed milk or evaporated milk ), the khoya is about to be ready, care should be taken at this point. Keep stirring frequently until it reaches a thick paste like consistency,, turn off the heat, and take the pan off the stove, that’s it you are done, let it cool down then transfer to a clean dry container.

Note: 2 liters of milk yields about 250 grams to 300 grams of khoya.