Instant Pot Ghee

Instant Pot Ghee is a traditional golden ghee with a delicious rich nutty flavor & a lovely sweet aroma. Home-made ghee is all about knowing how long to cook the butter and when to stop. This is exactly what this post will teach you - Learn how to make Instant Pot Ghee step by step, how to store ghee and how to incorporate Ghee in your diet.

Golden Ghee Recipe

Ghee is a regular in my kitchen and I have been making it since 16 years and watched my mom and grandma doing the same since my childhood days.

However, they never made ghee from butter. They took the traditional route and made ghee from the skimmed layer of milk fat (Malai in Hindi).

And once the cooking cycle was over the kids in the house had the privilege to enjoy the browned milk solids as a treat with a generous dose of sugar. So yum!

Homemade Ghee - why you should make it at home?

If you know the right method of making Ghee at home you will be pleased with the results and realize how easy the whole process is.

You should make traditional ghee at home because it is -

• Economical. Much cheaper than the store bought version. You can make 41 ounces ghee from $10 Butter! That's cheap! In the store it's 13 oz ghee for $11!
• So easy to make.
• A fail-proof recipe.
• Tastes amazing.
• Smells the best.
• You'll get the best quality ghee.
• Purest form.
• Shelf Stable.
• Lasts longer.
• You can choose the best quality butter.
• Tolerated well by Lactose intolerant as it is lactose free.

What is Ghee?

Ghee is a class of clarified butter that has been simmered and cooked over low heat a little longer to remove the water content completely, and until the milk solids begin to brown lending the ghee a toasted nutty flavor and an irresistibly good aroma.

The browned milk solids are later skimmed or strained to leave behind the golden ghee.

As a result, traditional ghee is pure butter fat.

Ghee has a high smoke point of 465 F as compared to butter's 350 F, which is why it is one of the best fats for cooking and frying.

It's a staple in Indian homes and extensively used in Indian cooking, South-West Asian and also Middle Eastern cooking.

Ghee plays a vital role since centuries in Ayurveda and is regarded as one of Ayurveda's most prized possession due to it's numerous health benefits.

Best Butter for making Instant Pot Ghee

You can use any unsalted butter to make homemade ghee however, organic butter from grass fed cow milk shall reward you with the best ghee with outstanding flavor and aroma.

Here's a few butter brands in the USA that yields a lovely pot of traditional homemade ghee every single time:

• Kerry Gold Irish Unsalted Butter ( Costco, Whole Foods and other Supermarkets).
• Local Organic Butter Rolls (Whole Foods and Kroger). These are huge and we love them.
• Kirkland Organic Unsalted Butter (Costco).
• Regular (not organic) Kirkland Unsalted butter (Costco).
• Horizon Organic Unsalted Butter.
• Simply Nature Organic Butter (Aldi).
• Organic Valley Pasture Butter (Walmart, Kroger, Meijer).

Pro Tip: You can use any generic supermarket brand (not organic) unsalted butter to make Ghee, however, Organic Butter preferably from grass fed/pasture raised cow milk (be it local or Name Brands) shall give you the best pot of golden ghee. We tried all the above butters and are more than pleased with the result. Organic butter has slightly less water content as compared to un-organic butter, hence, yields more ghee.

Instant Pot Ghee - Foodies Terminal Tips

• For best homemade ghee use Organic Butter made from grass fed or pasture raised cow milk.
• Cook the butter over low heat. This is a must,
• For grainy, gritty ghee a consistent low heat setting is a must.
• Skim the gathering surface foam at regular intervals.
• Clarified Butter is not ghee. However, ghee is a form of clarified butter that's cooked a little more.
• Turn off the Instant Pot immediately once the milk solids settled at the bottom of the pot begin to just turn golden.
• Allow the milk solids to brown completely with the help of the residual heat. You'll have the best ghee ever.
• Strain the ghee when still warm. It'll glide through the sieve easily. Ghee thickens and begin to solidify while cooling down.
• Use the browned milk solids to flavor soups, dals or flour.
• Always store ghee in dry, dark place away from any heat source.

How to make Ghee in Instant Pot? Step by Step

Step #1 Melt the Butter in the Instant Pot

There's an easy way to melt the butter in the Instant Pot and that's by pressure cooking on HIGH for 12 mins.

However, this step is OPTIONAL. You can totally hit the SAUTE mode keep it at HIGH and watch the butter blocks melt into a poodle.

In case, you choose to pressure cook, once the cooking cycle is up do a quick pressure release and open the lid. CANCEL the PRESSURE COOK mode and turn on the SAUTE ans keep it at NORMAL.

Step #2 Simmer melted butter

Continue simmering the melted butter on SAUTE at NORMAL.

You will notice bubbles/foam forming on the surface and gradually the butter will change from opaque to transparent.

Step #3 Simmer more until the Clarified Butter stage is reached

Continue cooking the butter until it becomes fully transparent and the milk solids begin to separate. The milk solids will remain pale at this stage.

They are those little specks of pale yellow solids sinking towards the bottom of the pot.

You will also notice that the bubbles will grow in size and than slowly reduce.

This is completely perfect.

Step #4 Cook until milk solids brown and ghee is formed

Once, the ghee reaches the clarified butter stage (beautiful transparent pale yellow color liquid) you must watch the ghee like a hawk so that the milk solids do not burn.

You need to brown the milk solids by cooking the ghee a little more but never burn the mild solids.

Reduce the temperature of the Instant pot to LOW and continue cooking.

A good ghee gets it's rich nutty flavor and a beautful aroma from the browned milk solids.

So, do not stop cooking the ghee once you rich the clarified butter stage, you need to cook more. Lol! I am saying this so many times I know 😀

Skim the foam from the top layer. Keep repeating.

As the milk solids begin to brown turn off the Instant Pot.

The ghee will continue cooking with the help of the residual heat and you will have a gorgeous bright yellow color golden ghee with dark brown milk solids all settled at the bottom of the pot.

Allow the ghee to completely cool down.

Strain with the help of a fine strainer, a mesh cloth, a tea strainer, cheese cloth or a coffee filter.

Store in glass jars or earthen pots covered in dry, dark place away from any heat source.

Pro Tip: Ghee will solidify in cold temperatures. The consistency of ghee will entirely depend on the weather conditions you live in, if it's hot ghee will remain semi solid or even liquid on the counter top. At colder climates ghee will solidify.

How to store homemade ghee?

You can store homemade ghee in either clean and moisture free glass jars or containers or you may store it in earthen pots and keep them covered.

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How long does homemade ghee last?

Homemade ghee will last for 6 months on the counter top when stored in moisture free glass jars or earthen pots and kept in a dry, dark place away from any heat source.

When refrigerated Instant Pot ghee will last for upto 1 year without going rancid.

Ghee Vs Clarified Butter

Though many think that ghee and clarified butter are the same thing, yet they are not. Ghee is a form of clarified butter but it's not exactly clarified butter.

I know it's confusing. Let's find out the difference.

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Does ghee go bad?

Yes, ghee just like any other food goes bad when not stored the right way and under right conditions.

For instance, a wet spoon used to scoop out ghee from a jar might lid to spoilage.

Ghee when gone bad will taste and smell sour, rancid, look very pale, loose it's nutty and rich flavors.

It will begin to smell funny. If this is the case discard it and make a fresh batch.

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Instant Pot Ghee Recipe - FAQs

Can you make ghee with salted butter?

Yes, you can make ghee with salted butter. Salted butter when melted and simmered splutters more as compared to unsalted butter.

How can I make aromatic ghee at home?

You can make aromatic ghee at home by cooking down the clarified butter for 20-25 minutes over low heat.

The separated milk solids are gradually cooked down and allowed to get brown this is what imparts a great depth of flavor and a rich nutty taste to homemade ghee making it very aromatic.

Why is my ghee grainy?

Grainy ghee denotes that the ghee is done correctly, it is cooked at low consistent temperatures and not rushed through. It means that the antioxidants are all intact.

The grainy texture of ghee is like a reward to ghee makers, it's more of an accomplishment.

Grainier the better.

Therefore, if your ghee is grainy or gritty don't think that it went bad, or you did something wrong.

It means you accomplished making ghee the right way.

Does ghee taste like butter?

Ghee does not taste like butter and lacks the smooth, creamy mouthfeel of butter. Ghee tastes nutty, rich, with lots of caramelized aroma.

Can I use ghee on toast?

Yes you can use ghee on toast as a spread, it tastes very good.

Why is my ghee separating?

At hotter climates ghee separates. It resembles a semi liquid state.

You may notice melted top whereas a semi solid center.

Don't panic it's perfectly normal.

Can I use ghee to fry eggs?

Yes, you can use ghee to fry eggs and many other things. Ghee has a high smoke point and hence, it is great for frying and sauteing.

Since, the milk solids are removed while making ghee it is a great alternative to cook, fry, saute, bake food at higher temperature without smoking.

When should we use ghee?

You can use ghee in multiple ways like....

• Ghee makes a great spread over toast, chapathi, bread etc.
• It's great for frying or skillet roasting meat and veggies.
• You can even use it in baking.
• Ghee is a great sub for oil and butter. Use it in place of normal oil or butter.
• A dollop of ghee makes a bowl of steamed rice taste even better.

Why won't my ghee solidify?

Ghee sometimes doesn't solidify which is fine because the ambient temperature of the kitchen or wherever you store it is not cold enough.

Liquid ghee or semi liquid ghee is perfectly fine and normal. It doesn't mean that you did something wrong or the recipe is not good 🙂

Why is my ghee white?

Ghee remains white when under-cooked. If you stop cooking the butter at the clarified butter stage it will result in a very pale ghee almost white i color.

Why is my ghee brown?

Ghee when cooked slightly more turn brown in color. The brown ghee has more depth of flavor, an intense nutty taste, unmistakable good aroma and tastes the best.

Brown ghee will have outstanding caramelized notes, imagine toffee!

When beginning to solidify it should look like this.

Brown ghee doesn't mean that you burnt the ghee or it has gone bad.

Trust me it tastes even better than the golden ghee.

This type of ghee is quiet popular all over eastern part of India.

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Some Easy Instant Pot Recipes from FOODIES TERMINAL.

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