Ghee, often labelled as 'Clarified Butter' in English speaking countries, is unsalted butter than has been simmered on a low heat for a long period of time is a way that removes all the milk solids and other impurities in the butter. It is used throughout the world but is a central constituent in South Asian food and some northern and eastern African countries. I do nearly all my cooking with Ghee these days, especially when frying foods.
Ghee is fantastic for long term storage provided is is kept away from moisture and in an airtight container to stop any oxidisation. Somewhat like wine, Ghee has various flavours, colours and textures depending on the way it was made during preparation and the source of the milk it was made from. In my personal experience Ghee usually has a slightly nutty taste with a deliciously smooth sweetness.
The Benefits of Ghee
Ghee is healthy cooking oil due to it's inclusion of various essential fatty acids that are vital to our diets. Rich in short chain fatty acids, which the body finds easiest to digest, it also contains vitimins A, D, E and K and Linoleic Acid which is considered to have properties very similar to anti-oxidents. Ghee makes you feel healthier and helps you to be sleeping peacefully at night.
Ghee has one of the highest smoke points in cooking fats known to man due to the process of eliminating the butter solids through simmering. This makes it fantastic for cooking and means that there aren't any damaging free radicals being formed. Ghee also keeps really well. You will not have to put it into the refrigerator as it can be stored in the cupboard.
For those who have any concerns due to a lactose intolerence, the heating process used to clarify the butter removes all the lactose from the cows butter. It also removes all the casein out of the butter as well.
Ghee and Your Heart
Anybody who knows me will know that I have done a great deal of research and I am not a big believer in the lipid hypothesis at all, or for that matter, the link between saturated fat/cholesterol intake and colesterol levels in the blood. For those who have concerns about the high cholesterol content, however, check out the link to the study on consumption of Ghee and Serum cholesterol levels at the bottom of this page. If anything, this could almost be used to prove my point about the link (or lack of) between sat. fat intake and serum cholesterol levels in the blood
For those that don't want to read the whole article in the link above, I'll give you the basic gist. The study suggests that when rats were fed diets containing significant amounts of Ghee serum cholesterol levels were actually lowered when compared to rats that were fed the same diets containing Groundnut oil instead of Ghee. It is thought that this may be down to Ghee's effect on the body of encouraging biliary excretion of cholesterol, bile acids, phospholipids and uronic acid.
In Conclusion
Ghee has a sweet taste and is great for revitalising, good for vision, eyes, digestion, stamina, intellect, sleeping, sex drive, and protection of overall health. Get involved and check out any online shops that you trust to buy Ghee today.
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