What is Cow Ghee? By what names it is called in different part of the world? What are its application?
Who should preferably eat cow milk? Its religious link? Its health benefits? Myths associated with its consumption?
It’s interesting, what the ghee is called in India in different regions. It’s consumed pan India with different cooking applications.
Sanskrit: ghrit(घृत), ghritam, ghritham, ghrut, ghrutham, sarpi (सर्पि), Hindhi: ghī (घी), Punjabi: ghyo (ਘਿਉ), Haryana; tindi ghee, Gujrati: ghī (ઘી), Kannada: tuppa (ತುಪ್ಪ), Malayalam: Neyyuh, Marathi: toop (तूप), sajuktup, Bangla: ghī (ঘী), Tamil: ney (நெய்), Telugu: neyyi (నెయ్యి ), Urdu:ghī (گھی), khalis ghee,
Internationally the last process of making ghee is translated in their language and that’s “clarified butter”. It’s even called butter oil, drawn butter, Arabic: samna (سمنة), samneh ( ghee), Egypt: samna (Real ghee), Brazil: manteigaclarificada (clearified butter), English: butter Oil, clarified butter, drawn butter, French: beurre clarifié, beurre noisette clarified butter, little burnt while clarifying is called brown butter),
The first and the most important for me is that it’s must be called “Ghee” not even Desi Ghee and there is no English translation for this, the clarified butter means different than ghee. I write in English also Ghee always because there is no translation, in case we do it changes its meaning. There are many food ingredients such as tejpatta, ajwain, maida has no English word, like even we accepted maida wrongly as refined flour, in dals they lost their character and started calling yellow dal and back dal. Let’s not translate. Let the world know our native ingredients with their name. We are learning international terminology like risotto, pasta, its varieties and many more.
What is ghee?
“I must confess, the most exciting and stimulating act when I cook. Always take the ghee in a cold pan and then place on low heat, watch every moment, that how ghee is melting, the colour changing slowly, from slid turns to golden hue and slowly a pleasant aroma of ghee fragrant. The whole process of few seconds gives the feel of purity, overall nutrition, satisfaction, fulfilment, building of ojas or physical, mental strength and stability”. This is ghee.
Let’s look at various forms of milk. Milk is a food. Milk is consumed as liquid; milk turn to be curd by culturing. Curd has many applications in cooking, consumed as it is, and churned to take out the butter. The whey is a cleansing drink call lassi or chhach (this is the real lassi). The butter is consumed on the same day as unsalted white butter, it has a much higher moisture content than the yellow butter. The extra butter is stored at room temperature, and it starts fermenting after few days depends on the climate and temperature. Now from this fermented butter by slowly undisturbed pot place on very low heat. It takes a long time, until starts caramelise and separate from the oil. In the process the sugar and water also evaporate. What is left once the milk fat, sugar, and water completely evaporated is what Ayurveda calls Ghrit(घृत) in Sanskrit or ghee in Hindi. Desi word is prefix when hydrogenated fat came in existence1930 – 1940 decade. This the most respected cooking oil is extremely healthy, with a high smoking point making it ideal for cooking. Can be used for every cooking method as bhunuing, roasting, baking, frying, braising, grill, etc. and various application, gives best results.
It is considered as the purest oil because of the process followed. That’s the reason it is offered to the God in all faith and belief. Evening burning in lamps for auspicious rituals, gives better fragrance and clean the environment.
Ghee is the most precious auspicious substance to use in cooking food.
I would like to point out that when Ayurveda was born over 5,000 years ago civilisation, there were no factory farms; all dairy products were raw, unadulterated, and from healthy cows living their lives in nature. It is our duty today in the modern world to choose raw dairy products from companies with ethical practices, where animal well-being is just as or more important.
More about ghee and its benefits in the next.
Courtesy – Chef Manjit Gill.