Did you know there are different ways to make ghee? Most ghee that you can buy from a store is basically clarified butter. Ghruta or ghrita, however, is a traditional form of ghee from Ayurveda that requires more preparation and cooking and yields greater health benefits. Given the medicinal value, you may be curious about vedic ghee preparation. This article will explain the basic process for making ghee as well as the traditional technique of ghrita preparation.
How to Make Ghee: The Basics
Making ghee is a fairly simple process. All you need is a medium-sized pot and 2-4 sticks of butter (organic is preferable). For this simple ghee-making technique, place 2-4 sticks (1/2 lb-1 lb) of organic butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring the heat to medium so that the butter begins to melt, and then turn the heat down to low. Keep the butter on low for several minutes. You may see a white froth appear and may observe popping sounds (keep your face away from the pot!).
After the popping and sizzling sounds die down, stay close and observe. Eventually, the milk solids in the butter will begin to sink to the bottom of the pan, turning a golden brown color. Now it’s time to turn off the heat, let cool for 10-20 minutes, and then strain through a cheesecloth. What you have left will be a beautiful, delicious golden ghee that can be used for cooking, baking, spreading, and medicinal purposes. Store in a sterilized, lidded glass jar at room temperature. Ghee has a remarkable shelf life so it is best stored in the cupboard or on your kitchen counter.
Vedic Ghee Preparation
As outlined above, the method of ghee preparation is simple. And, if one starts with quality organic, grass-fed butter, the product will be good with many benefits. However, there are more advantages to traditional Vedic ghee preparation, which differs from this simple method. Let’s look at the traditional form of ghrita preparation, also known as Vedic ghee preparation.
- Start with raw A2 whole milk from free-range, grass-fed Gir or Desi cows.
- Lightly heat the milk under a low flame to remove impurities.
- Place the warmed milk into an earthen pot so that it can ferment into curd.
- Churn the curds into buttermilk.
- Separate the cultured butter from the buttermilk and simmer until the milk solids sink to the bottom and darken in color, and the butter turns clear.
- Strain the solids.
- What’s left is pure Ghrita or Ghruta
Benefits of Traditional Ghrita Preparation
Though all organic grass-fed ghee is good, there are indeed benefits to this form of traditional Vedic ghee preparation:
- Firstly, many people note the difference in quality and digestibility of A2 versus A1 cow milk and products. Milk, butter, and ghee from A2 cows tend to be much easier to digest and thus are far less likely to cause inflammation and immunological response.
- Also, when one considers the source of the milk in traditional ghruta or ghrita versus conventional ghee, there are important differences. PIOR Living uses the milk of A2 forest-dwelling cows for its Ghruta. These cows are milked only of their own free will and the hump on their back harnesses solar rays while they are roaming freely. The solar energy is then converted into gold-bearing micro minerals and life energy. This makes for a more healthful product, and indicates subtle but important energetic differences.
- In addition, Vedic ghee preparation is a methodology that treats the cows with kindness and respect; the result is a more sattvic and healthful product.
Ghrita preparation by traditional Vedic methods does take more time and care than the simple method of creating clarified butter. However, the resulting product is one made with love and consideration. Also, you can of course skip all the preparation steps yourself and purchase a quality Ghruta/ghrita such as the one produced by PIOR Living.
