Fat
Ghee
Also called clarified butter, samneh
Butter simmered until the water cooks off and the milk solids brown, then strained — a high-heat dairy fat. South Asian tadka and biryani lean on it. Pale European clarified butter stops before the solids brown; that is a cousin, not the same smell.
Origin
South Asia, with related shelf-stable butters from the Maghreb to Ethiopia. A tin of ghee is everyday cooking fat, not only a garnish.
Flavour
Nutty, cooked-milk, less sweet than butter, with a toast note if the solids browned. Burnt ghee is bitter and spices will not hide it.
How it is made
Butter is simmered, foam skimmed, water driven off, and the browned solids strained out. Unsalted butter makes a cleaner home ghee.
How to use it
Heat it for tadka until a mustard seed pops, or spoon it through biryani and kabuli pulao at the end. It takes a hotter pan than butter. A spoon finishes fatteh or dal — it is flavour as well as fat. Olive oil will not impersonate it; unsalted butter will, at a lower smoke point.
Storage
A clean jar in a cool cupboard if no wet spoon goes in. Fridge if the kitchen is hot; it sets hard. Water and crumbs are what turn it off.
Recipes using it
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